


Hellions from Heaven

by Antarctic_Echoes



Series: Carry On, Wayward Son [10]
Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Grand Romance, Non-Graphic Violence, Some Lucifer Whump, Strong Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-05
Updated: 2016-12-30
Packaged: 2018-09-06 17:19:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 45,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8762089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Antarctic_Echoes/pseuds/Antarctic_Echoes
Summary: Lucifer inadvertently puts his relationship with Chloe on the line when he doesn’t tell her the full details of the deal he made with Orphiel and the Council of Archangels.  Orphiel, meanwhile, starts pressuring Lucifer to kill his unborn child.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Well here we are at Part 10, and I have to thank all of you wonderful readers out there whose wonderful kudos and comments have kept me inspired to keep writing. I can't believe we've come this far! Thank you all so much for keeping up with this Lucifer and Chloe -- it really means a lot to me! You're all just so awesome! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!!
> 
> A massive THANK YOU to my super-amazing beta, ScooterThyme, whose editing skills are AWESOME!! Thank you!!!
> 
>  
> 
> Disclaimer: Lucifer Morningstar, Chloe Decker, Trixie Decker, Mazikeen, Amenadiel and Linda Martin are owned by Vertigo Comics, DC Comics, Neil Gaiman, Mike Carey, and everyone else involved with the Lucifer TV show and comic books. I own nothing and make no money on this. I merely am borrowing the characters for... uh... writing practice. (Everyone else is my creation.)

 

 

You must be fully prepared to lose a great deal    
in order to make a great deal.

-Traditional Proverb

 

 

________________________________________

  
  


 

“We must decide what to do with Lucifer’s unborn child.”

The Council leader, Orphiel, addressed the other seven archangels seated at the table in the throne room of Heaven.  He stared at each one of his siblings, his face severe as he studied them.  They weren’t the strongest willed lot, but that was why it had been crippling when Yahweh went insane.  Sighing sadly, he reflected that the strongest-willed brethren who would have been the most suitable for a leadership position were in Hell, or had Fallen.  Now it was up to him to take up the heavy burden of rulership until a replacement for Father could be found.

He glanced at the far end of the table.  One seat remained suspiciously empty at the end, which has the other angels muttering uneasily.

“You all know that the Nephilim’s birth is fast approaching.  This puts the Earth in grave danger. The threat must be dealt with,” the archangel said.

“Raphael has said that he does not yet know if it truly is a Nephilim,” Ariel stated.

“He has ties to the Fallen One, and I believe he can no longer be trusted to be impartial,” Orphiel said.  “That is why I have called you all here while he is away.  We must come to an unbiased consensus as to what must be done with the Old God and the Nephilim.

“We all know that the child is a Nephilim.  What else could it be?  Since when have angel and human come together and not begotten a Nephilim?  Never.  It is not unreasonable to assume that Raphael is withholding information out of loyalty to the Fallen One and the Old God,” Orphiel stated dispassionately.

“We have made a deal with Lucifer,” another angel, Jegudiel, said.  “The Old God saved Father’s life.  We cannot go back on it.”

Orphiel sighed.  “The Fallen One stated that he would dispose of the baby if it was a Nephilim, which we all know it to be.  He has not done so -- instead he waits for it to be born.  Our brother Barachiel may not have been entirely wrong in his concerns that Lucifer is planning to unleash it upon the Earth.

“We are custodians of the Earth,” he continued.  “With Father in the state he is in, we cannot shirk our responsibility to the humans which he has entrusted to us.  A Nephilim loose on the planet would wreak havoc.  You all remember the last time Nephilim roamed the Earth.”

The other angels exchanged glances, muttering and nodding.

“You remember the devastation they caused, the lives lost -- and how hard they were to kill.  Father had to order the Flood to kill them all.

“The Nephilim still sits in its mother’s womb.  Once it leaves the womb, it will start to grow exponentially fast.  It will be unstoppable.  We must destroy it before it is born.  Who is with me on this?”

Nervous muttering could be heard throughout the throne room as the other Council members looked at each other and discussed their options.  Slowly, the hands of the seven archangels went up.  Orphiel raised his hand, as well.

“Very good,” he said.  “Eight to one, assuming Raphael would be opposed.  We have a majority.  Let us take care of the abomination.”

“But we cannot kill the Nephilim if Lucifer is with the Old God.  He would fight us,” Raguel said.  “How are we to destroy the blight if the Fallen One is there to protect his woman?”

“You raise a good point,” Orphiel said.  “I will give the Fallen One one last chance to fulfill his duty.  After that, we must take control of the situation ourselves, even if it means war with the Fallen One.  Earth is at stake -- we cannot risk its destruction.”  He nodded to everyone.  “I shall keep you all informed of the progress.  Dismissed.”

 


	2. Quiet Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A super-huge thank you to my wonderful beta, ScooterThyme, for making this chapter shine! Thank you!

 

 

“Samsung.”

“No.”

“LG?”

“No.”

“What about... Sony?”

“No.”

“Panasonic?”

 _“No.”_  Chloe turned annoyed eyes toward Lucifer.  “We are _not_ naming the baby after electronics.”

Lucifer spooned with his wife in bed, his arms wrapped around her growing waist as he snuggled against her back.  It was almost four months after the whole incident with Barachiel, and things seemed to have calmed down quite a bit. The fallen angel breathed a sigh of relief.  He had been worried at first that the Council would go back on their word and come after his wife, but so far it had been quiet.

He knew the deal he had made with the Council to keep Chloe safe had not been the best.  That bloody flock of archangel siblings of his had wanted to kill Chloe and the baby immediately, in case the baby ended up as a Nephilim.  With Raphael’s help, he had been able to convince them not to, until it was known what the baby was.  Orphiel had appeared unrelenting, until Lucifer had agreed that he would deal with the baby if it ended up being what everyone feared.  That bloody prick expected him to kill his own baby, but Lucifer hadn’t said that -- merely said he would deal with it.  He wasn’t sure what he would do if it _was_ a Nephilim, but he knew that he wouldn’t kill it.  There was no way he’d ever harm something that came from his wife.

He had never told Chloe of what he had promised -- he didn’t want her to worry.  Instead, he had said that he had made a deal with the Council for them to leave his family alone, in exchange for her saving Yahweh’s life.  And that was the truth -- just not all of it.  Lucifer saw no harm in it.  After all, it kept his wife from being anxious about the birth, and she was his main priority.  That his real reason for keeping the whole truth from her was that he was afraid of her hating him was something he would not admit, even to himself.

Raphael still came by weekly to check on the baby’s progress, as well as to keep Lucifer informed about the latest developments with the Council.  The healer smiled less and seemed a little more wary, but for the most part, he seemed better since he had his wings healed.  Unfortunately, he still couldn’t tell if the baby was a Nephilim, an angel, or just... a human.  Lucifer was convinced it wouldn’t be a Nephilim, while Chloe wasn’t so sure.  Even with the fallen angel telling her not to think about it, every once in a while he could see her frown as the gears turned in her head.

To get her mind off of things, he had encouraged Chloe to prepare a room for the baby.  One of the spare rooms became the nursery, although she had wanted the crib in their room for the first few months.  He didn’t argue, although the thought of a baby watching them have fantastic sex was a little disturbing.

Beatrice helped her mother quite a bit in picking out the decor and buying odds and ends that they would need.  She was as excited as her mother about the coming addition to their family, which amused Lucifer to no end.  The little one was quite the chatterbox when it came to talking about how she planned to cuddle and spoil the baby... and teach it to fly.  The spawn’s suggestion of throwing it off the balcony like a mother bird did with her young had Chloe nearly screaming in horror.  When he had defended the little spawn and her idea, his wife turned her ire toward him, arousing him to no end until they ended up making wonderful, deliriously passionate sex after the child had gone to bed.

Meanwhile, Lucifer himself still wasn’t so sure about the baby.  The fear that he would end up as a horrible father ate at him, nibbling a little of his peace of mind away each day.  It was the reason why he had such a hard time choosing a name.  Naming the baby would make it real, and he was still afraid.  He knew what he didn’t want for the baby’s name, but what he _did_ want... well, he just didn’t know.

“Are you ever going to be serious about this?” Chloe asked as she turned in his arms.  “I mean, come on, in almost three weeks, we’re going to be having a baby.  We need to pick out names.”

“There’s still time, love,” the Devil said defensively.  “Three weeks, that’s twenty-one days....”

“Less than that, Lucifer, although I was late when I had Trixie....  But come on, you’re an immortal being -- you, of all people, should know how fast time flies!”

He sighed.  “Well, what names do you have in mind?”

“For a girl or boy?”

“Start with girl.  I wouldn’t mind having a girl....”  He grinned happily.

Chloe smiled.  “Well, that’s progress!”

“And when she’s ready to date, I’ll murder any sod that comes near her,” he said with glinting red eyes as he gave a feral grin.  Glancing at his shocked wife, he added, “Oh, don’t worry -- I’ll also murder any sodding pillock who comes within thirty feet of Beatrice.”

Chloe rolled her eyes at that.  “Great.  Trixie’s never going to get a chance to date --”

“Which would be just fine by me,” Lucifer said smugly.  “Not that I’d mind her having sex, mind you.  There’s nothing like it!  But if one of those bloody sods ever hurts her, I will tear his arms and legs off like the insect he is, and then stamp all over his bollocks.  And then I’ll punish him.”

“Oh for crying out loud,” she groaned as she smacked her palm against her forehead.  “You can’t do that!”

“Of course I can,” he said proudly.  “I’m the Devil, remember?  And I’m very good at fitting the punishment to the crime.”

“I think you’re being a bit extreme in this case,” she muttered before sighing heavily.  “Getting back to names... I thought for a girl that Eliana would be nice --”

He shook his head violently.  “Please, Detective, no Dad names!”

“Okay, well, what about Isabeau?”

“Dad name.”

“Katriel?”

“Dad name.”

“Elizabeth?  Jannette?  Siobahn?”

“Dad name, dad name, dad name.”

“Angela?”

Lucifer gave her a dark look.  “Naming our child Angela, love, is like naming a human baby ‘Humana.’  No.  Angela is out of the question.”

Chloe flung up her arms in frustration.  “Well, then, Mister Know-It-All, what would you like to name our baby?”

Lucifer stared at her blankly.  “If I knew that, my dear, I wouldn’t be asking you.”  That got him a playful punch in the arm.

Sighing, she said, “Well, then, what about boy names?  I thought Ellis would be nice --”

“Dad name.”

“Jeremy?”

“Dad name.”

“Samuel?”

“Dad --”

“-- Name.”  Chloe sighed with frustration.  “What about Thomas?”

“The baby’s not a bloody twin!”  With a horrified look, he asked, “Or is it?!”

“No, of course not!”  Chloe stared at him, puzzled.  “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Thomas means twin.”

“Oh.  Well, then, what about Raphael for a name?  After all, he’s going to be delivering the baby --”

“Bloody hell, we are _not_ naming the baby after my sodding brother!”

“Oh for the love of --”

“No Dad!  Please!”

“Ugh, I’ve had enough of your ‘no Dad’ objections,” Chloe groaned as she pushed back the covers and started roll out of bed.  “I’m getting up.”

“What?”  Lucifer cried as he grabbed her arm to stop her.  “Why?  It’s still bloody early -- the little one doesn’t even have to go to school today!  I mean, we could....”  His twinkling eyes were bright like a chipmunk’s as he grinned at her.

Giving him the evil eye, she said, “No, we can’t.  I need to use the restroom, my dear Devil, and I’m really tired.”

“But --”

“No.”

He sighed as he watched her amble off to the bathroom.  They hadn’t had sex in a few days because she had become so tired lately, and it was killing him.  Bloody hell -- he had even found a lovely book that had photographs of all sorts of sexual positions they could try now that her belly was getting bigger!  Not that he needed it -- he knew every sexual position known to man and demon!  But visual aids were always helpful, in case his wife needed some clarification.  Of course, he could clarify anything for her....

Ugh, all these thoughts of sex with his wife were making him horribly aroused, and unfortunately she had given him the cold shoulder.  With a heavy sigh, he scrubbed his face with his hands and decided to get up as well.  No sense in wasting the morning.  Perhaps she would want to have a little sex later...?  With that hopeful thought in mind, he pulled himself out of bed.

 

 

________________________________________

  


“Lucifer!”

Trixie barreled into him in the kitchen as he mixed pancake batter in a bowl.  She beamed up at him as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

“Hello, child,” he said warmly as he put the bowl down.  “Are you off to watch your Saturday morning cartoons?”

“In a minute.”  She gave him another hug.  “Hi Lucifer!”

That immediately put the fallen angel en garde.  Eyeing the little girl with suspicion, he asked, “What do you want?”

Giving him another toothy grin, she said, “Nothing....”

“I don’t believe you.  Every time you say ‘hi Lucifer’ in that bloody manner, it means you want something.”

Cocking her head at him as she put her hands behind her back, she said, “Well, there is _some_ thing....”

Bloody hell, here it came.

“Can you give me a ride?  We haven’t gone flying in a long time and I miss it.”

Oh no.  No no nononono --

“If I do, then I’ll carry you in my arms,” he said firmly.

“Uh-uh.  I want to ride you like a pony!”  Grabbing him around the waist, she looked up at him with pleading eyes.  “Please, Lucifer?  Please please please??  Please?  With whipped cream and a cherry on top?  I promise not to tell Mommy you let me have chocolate cake for breakfast, if you do!”

Lucifer blinked, then said indignantly, “What?!  I haven’t let you have chocolate cake --”

“But you will!  Please please please, Lucifer?”

He gaped at her.  “Why you little hooligan, you!”  For a brief second he considered saying no, but... well, he really couldn’t scold her for being so wonderfully devious....  “Oh very well.  Help yourself to cake and I’ll take you for a ride after brekkie.”

“Nuh-uh, in the afternoon.  Have you forgotten?  Rafe and Grandpa are coming this morning.”

“Very well.”  He raised a warning finger to her.  “But not a word to your mother, understand?”

Trixie nodded happily, then ran to raid the refrigerator and relieve it of its chocolate cake.  Shaking his head but smiling at the little girl’s antics, Lucifer went back to making breakfast.  He’d have to make extra -- his father did eat quite a bit for a god....

 

 

________________________________________

 

 

Sure enough, Lucifer’s brother and father appeared on the balcony just in time for breakfast.  Trixie went running to Yahweh, whose face lit up like the sun at her happy greeting.  Raphael just stared indulgently at the pair hugging before stepping around them and entering the penthouse.

“How do you feel?” he asked Chloe as the woman motioned him into the dining room.  “You look tired.”

“I feel tired,” she replied as Lucifer set a plate of pancakes down on the table.

“Well, eat my pancakes, love, and you’ll feel much better,” the fallen angel said with a grin.  “They’ll give you stamina for our wonderful sex rendezvous in bed later --”

“Rafe, have a seat!” Chloe interrupted with a swat at her husband.  “Trixie!” she yelled. “Grandpa!  Food’s ready!”

The little girl came rushing up, dragging Yahweh behind her by the hand.  Lucifer noticed that his father’s face was bright and happy -- and lacked the usual sharp intelligence that he used to have and now only seldom exhibited.  It was a bad day for his dad, then -- a childlike day.

He watched the god grimly as pain washed through his chest.  It was heartbreaking to see his once-strong father with the mental capacity of a child, but he supposed that it was better in the long run.  Yahweh couldn’t hurt anyone, this way.  Watching him and Trixie play patty cake at the dining table made Lucifer’s eyes burn.  Probably just bloody allergies....

As they sat and ate, Raphael leaned close to Lucifer, so as not to be heard by Yahweh, Trixie, or Chloe.  “I’m worried,” he said under his breath to his brother.

“About Dad?” the fallen angel responded.

He nodded.  “About that, yes, but also....  Something’s not right.  I can feel it in my bones.”

Lucifer’s brow furrowed.  “Not right?  What do you mean?”

“All this time the Council has been actively talking about Chloe’s impending birth, but suddenly... they’ve gone deathly silent.”

For a long moment, the fallen angel said nothing as anxiety wound itself tight around him.  Then he forced out a laugh.  “Well, maybe they’ve finally accepted the fact that the detective is not giving birth to a Nephilim.”

Raphael shook his head.  “No.  Orphiel wouldn’t do that.  He’d want proof.  And since I still don’t know what it’s going to be --”

“What are you talking about over there?” Chloe asked from across the table, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“Just be careful,” Raphael warned in a low voice before turning to his sister-in-law and smiling.  “Oh, this and that.  Nothing to worry about....”

_Nothing to worry about._

Bloody hell.  Now Lucifer was worried.

 


	3. Orphiel's Visit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A super-huge thank you to my excellent beta, ScooterThyme! You rock!!

 

 

After breakfast, Raphael asked to check Chloe and the baby while Trixie watched cartoons in the living room with Yahweh.  Lucifer followed his wife and brother into the master bedroom, when Raphael carefully sat Chloe down on the edge of the bed.  Taking a seat next to her, he picked up her hand and held it in his.  A blue glow emanated from his hand as he closed his eyes and concentrated.  After a minute or two, he looked up.

“Well, it seems the baby is still in very good health,” he said with a slight smile.

“Can you tell if it’s a Nephilim?” Chloe asked, anxiety in her voice.

Eager to waylay his wife’s worries, Lucifer said confidently, “It’s not a Nephilim, love.”

Raphael gave his fallen brother a sharp look.  “We don’t know that yet.  It’s hard to tell.  It seems the baby is normal -- human -- but I could be wrong.  It’s been a very long time since I’ve checked on a baby that had an angel for a father.  If I remember right, some things don’t develop until later.  I don’t see any wings on the baby, but if they’re gossamer thin and laying flat, it would be difficult to tell -- they’d just appear as a layer of skin.”

“A human baby wouldn’t be bad,” Chloe said with a smile.  “I could have a normal delivery in a hospital.”

“And let bloody humans touch our baby?!” Lucifer cried, appalled.  “Those barbaric butchers with knives cutting you open like a Thanksgiving turkey?  No.  Absolutely not.”

She rolled her eyes at her husband.  “That’s only if I’m having a cesarean section -- and if it comes to that, I’ll want Rafe to deliver the baby.”  Turning to the healer, she asked, “Does a Nephilim have wings?”

“No, and since I’m not sensing any wings -- yet -- it’s quite possible you may have a Nephilim --”

“She does not!” roared Lucifer, his eyes blazing red.  “Bloody hell, Rafe, stop scaring her!”

“I’m just telling her the facts!  By Heavenly Father, will you _calm down?!”_

“It’s okay, Lucifer,” Chloe said as she reached for her husband.  “It’s okay.  This is stuff we need to know.”

“Bloody hell, we do not!”  Avoiding her hand seeking his, he flung up his arms and began to pace angrily, like a caged lion.  “It’s _not_ a bloody Nephilim!  How many times must I say that?!”

Lucifer fumed as he glared at his brother.  Chloe did not know why he was so upset at the possibility that it might be a Nephilim, but Raphael did.  Why couldn’t his brother just shut up about the baby? It wouldn’t be a Nephilim!  If it was, then he’d have to deal with it as he had promised the Council, and that didn’t even bear thinking about.  He saw how much Chloe cherished the little life within her.  If he had to somehow do something because it was a Nephilim, she would never forgive him.

Chloe’s eyes narrowed as she studied him.  “Why the hell are you being so freakish about this?”

What could he say to that?   _Oh, because I promised to deal with our baby if it is a Nephilim?_  No.  He couldn’t say that.  He couldn’t tell her.  Wouldn’t.  Ever.  As long as it wasn’t a Nephilim, no one had anything to worry about.

“I... just don’t want you worrying,” he finally told her a bit lamely.  Catching Raphael’s sharp glance, he merely shrugged.

“Excuse us for a moment, will you, Chloe?” the healer said as he grabbed his fallen brother’s arm and dragged him into the corner of the room.  “Haven’t you told her about what will happen if it’s a Nephilim?”

Lucifer shifted uncomfortably.  “She doesn’t need to know --”

“Doesn’t need to know?!  You promised to deal with the baby if it’s a Nephilim!  Don’t you think she has a right to know that?”

“Look, it won’t be.  Why make her worry for no reason?”  As Raphael rubbed his forehead in frustration, Lucifer, continued, “And when will we have confirmation that it’s not a Nephilim?  Shouldn’t you have sensed that already?”

Now it was Raphael’s turn to shift uneasily.  “I... I can’t see as well as I used to.”

Lucifer raised his eyebrows.  “Explain.”

“When Barachiel cut off my wings, he... changed me.  The new pair is... different.  Better, in some ways.  I can heal faster, my power is stronger... but I can’t sense as well as I used to.  I’m not sure if it’s a mental block from the trauma or what, but... secondary sensing is more difficult.  If I’m not laying my hands directly on the baby, it’s harder for me to see what’s going on.  So unless the baby opens its wings... I can’t tell if it’s not a Nephilim.”

Lucifer was shocked.  “Rafe....”

The healer took a deep breath, and shrugged sadly.  “What can you do?  It is what it is.”

“What are you two whispering about?” Chloe called out, a suspicious look on her face.

“Nothing, love!” Lucifer called back before turning to his brother and clasping him bracingly on the shoulder.

“You need to tell her,” Raphael hissed, but the Devil just waved him off, then turned to smile at his wife.

“I’ll let Rafe finish up with you.  I’m going to go see how Dad is doing with the little human.”  Turning on his heel, he left the master bedroom and strode into the living room where Trixie and Yahweh were.

“Lucifer!” Catching sight of him, Trixie immediately leaped to her feet and ran full-tilt into him, giving him a big hug that had him calming right down.  It was amazing what the little one’s hugs could do for his state of mind.  Then he gaped as his father came barreling into him right after, nearly knocking him over, and grabbed him in a huge bear hug that had him losing his breath entirely.

“Lucifer!” the god cried, mimicking Trixie, who giggled at the sight.

Horrified, the fallen angel stiffened like a board in his father’s arms, and struggled to remove himself from the embrace.  “Ah... yes....  Hello, child.  Hello, Dad.”

“We’re watching cartoons,” the little girl said happily as Yahweh released his son and returned to his seat on the couch.  “How’s Mommy and the baby?”

“Fine, child.  Doing fine.”

“Have you thought of a name yet?” she asked.  Without waiting for an answer, she said, “I think you should name the baby Molly McDowell and have Maze train her to be a ninja!”

Lucifer groaned.  “We are _not_ naming the baby after a bloody doll.”  At Trixie’s downcast expression, he hurriedly added with a smile, “But we _can_ have Maze train the baby to be a ninja.  That would be --”

“Unacceptable,” Chloe said from behind him.  Bloody hell, when had she walked up?  Turning, he saw his wife and Raphael looking on with amusement.

“Oh, done already?” he asked.

“Rafe’s leaving.  He needs to take Grandpa back,” his wife informed him as she wrapped her arm around his waist.

Trixie ran up to Yahweh and tugged the god to his feet.  “Grandpa, Rafe has to take you back.  I’ll see you in two weeks, okay?” she said gently to the old man, whose eyes filled with tears.  Giving him a big hug, she said, “Don’t cry, okay?  I’ll see you soon.  You be good.”

The crying old man nodded, before looking at Raphael.

“Come on, Father,” the healer said, walking forward and taking his hand.  Turning to Lucifer and Chloe he said, “I’ll see you both next Saturday.”

After the angel and god went home, Lucifer gave his wife a hug.  “I’m glad the baby is all right.”

“When do you think we’ll know if it’s a --”

He cut her off.  “It won’t be.”  He glanced down at Trixie, who was watching them with a big grin and shining eyes.  “What would you like for lunch?  And please don’t say chocolate cake.”

“In-N-Out!” squealed the little girl.

Chloe and Lucifer both laughed as the fallen angel said, “Very well.  Bloody hamburgers it is....”

 

 

________________________________________

 

 

After Lucifer took Trixie for the ride he promised her -- bloody hell, what had the world come to when the Devil was reduced to a bloody pegasus?! -- he sat down in his armchair with a glass of Scotch as Chloe went to help the little one with homework.  Rubbing his forehead, he tried to relax -- but couldn’t.  He knew why, but refused to think about it.  He _wasn’t_ going to worry.  There was no need, he told himself.  The baby was _not_ going to be a Nephilim.

He started to take a swig of his drink, when time suddenly slowed down.  Bloody hell.  Turning, he saw Orphiel standing on his balcony.  Bollocks.  As if he needed _this_ right now.

“What do you want, Orph?” he snapped.

“You haven’t fulfilled your side of the deal,” his brother said as he entered the penthouse.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Lucifer said stiffly before finishing his drink and standing to face the angel.

“Time grows short, Fallen One.  The Nephilim will be upon us before you know it.”

“Right.  How many times do I have to tell you, you bloody prick, that it is _not a Nephilim?!”_

Orphiel shook his head.  “I never thought you a fool until now, brother.  Your affection for your offspring blinds you.”

“No,” Lucifer snarled.  “I’m not a fool, and I’m not bloody blind.  You said you’d leave us alone until we knew what the baby was.  Rafe still doesn’t know... so until he does, leave us alone, you bloody sod!”

“We both know that the only thing the child can be is a Nephilim,” his brother stated coldly.  “Name one instance where an angel and a human created a child that was not a Nephilim.”

The fallen angel’s eyes narrowed, but he said nothing.  Could say nothing.  A tic appeared in his jaw as he gnashed his teeth together in rage.

“You cannot, can you?” Orphiel continued.  “Because it’s never happened.  And it’s not going to happen here.  The baby is a Nephilim.  You know it as well as I.  It’s about time you opened your eyes to the truth, and kill the spawn.”

In a tight, controlled voice that shook with anger, Lucifer said, “I said I would deal with it, if it was a Nephilim.  But we don’t know, so leave me alone, you bloody sod.”

“You are a fool.  You know that once the child is born, it shall grow exponentially fast, and destroy everything in its path -- including you.”

“We don’t know that.”

Orphiel walked up to Lucifer until he was nose-to-nose with his fallen brother.  “You are a blind, arrogant fool.  Do you really think that as long as you say it will not be a Nephilim that it won’t be?  Who do you think you are -- Father?”

Hot rage burned in Lucifer at his brother’s words, and his eyes flared a bright red.  “I am a bloody pragmatist.  I will act when I have proof.  As of now, I have no proof.”

“A pragmatist?”  A bark of laughter escaped the Council leader’s lips.  “No, brother.  You are an ostrich that hides its head in the sand.  You _know_ what it is, and yet you still refuse to see.  You would destroy the world in order to keep your silly fantasy of a human/angel half-breed that is not a Nephilim.  Well, brother, I am warning you: fulfill your side of the deal -- kill the unborn child -- or we will do your job for you.  I will give you twenty-four hours.”

The fallen angel didn’t even think -- he balled his hand into a fist and slammed it into Orphiel’s face.  His brother reeled back, then barked out a contemptuous laugh before he recovered and punched Lucifer back.  In seconds they were brawling like two drunken men in a bar, throwing each other around and wrecking the furniture.  They punched and kicked at each other until Orphiel grabbed his fallen brother and slammed him into a nearby bookshelf.  Books fell on top of Lucifer as he cried out in pain from the blow.

Bloody mortality, he cursed.  If only Chloe wasn’t close by....

Pulling himself out of the rubble, he tried to get to his feet, but his brother was suddenly there in front of him, knocking him to the floor again with a well aimed fist.  Pain exploded in his head, sending him back down onto the rubble.  As he lay there, panting and trying to stop the ringing in his ears, Orphiel kneeled down and grabbed a fistful of his hair.  He yanked his fallen brother’s head up and leaned close.

“Twenty-four hours, Fallen One.  Do not disappoint me.”

With that, Orphiel pushed Lucifer’s head back down into the fallen books with a painful shove.  As the archangel left the flat and took off for home, time suddenly sped up.

The fallen angel lay in the rubble, unable to move.  His head, his ribs --  everywhere that Orphiel had hit him -- reverberated with unbelievable pain.  But even more than his injuries, his heart hurt.  Closing his eyes, he wondered what he was going to do now.  Bloody hell, a day.  How the hell was he going to get proof that the baby wasn’t a Nephilim in twenty-four hours, especially since Rafe had just told him he didn’t know?  What a mess he was in.

Well, he wouldn’t let them hurt his family.  Period.  There was just no bloody way he’d let that happen.  He’d find a way... somehow.  He needed to know what the baby was now, more than ever.

“Lucifer, Trixie wanted to ask you -- _Lucifer!”_ he heard his wife scream.

And then she was there, beside him, trying to help him up, asking him what had happened.  What could he tell her?  He didn’t know.  Couldn’t think.  His head hurt too much.  There was blood in his mouth -- the iron taste was so strong, it turned his stomach.  Unable to speak or do much of anything else, he closed his eyes and let the darkness take him.

 


	4. The Attack

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A huge shout out to my wonderful beta, ScooterThyme! Thank you, you rock!!

 

 

“So what the hell happened, Lucifer?”

Lucifer sighed at his wife’s question.  All around them, the living room lay in ruins.  The bookshelf he had landed on was a pile of splintered wood and fallen books, the coffee table was broken, the television was destroyed, chairs were overturned... it was a mess.  He had had to right the couch so that they had somewhere to sit.  He supposed he should be glad that the fight hadn’t worked its way over to the bar or the piano.  At least he was no longer in the same condition as the room....  His lovely wife had healed all of his wounds.  How very fortunate he was to be married to the Goddess of Compassion!

He tightened his embrace on Chloe, who sat on one side of him on the couch, and rubbed Trixie’s back, who sat on his other side.  The poor child was hugging him hard and burying her face in his shirt.

“A minor family squabble.  Nothing for you to be concerned about,” he said lightly.

Chloe glanced around the room with narrowed eyes, then back at him.  “I leave the room for a minute, and when I come back, our living room is like this and you’re beaten half to death.  I wouldn’t say that’s a minor family squabble.”

Lucifer shifted uncomfortably at her words, which caused Trixie to look up at him.

“You’re okay, aren’t you Lucifer?” she asked anxiously.  “You’re not going to have to leave again, are you?”

Smiling down at Trixie, he said, “Oh no, child.  Everything is fine.  Nothing for you to worry about.”

Chloe continued to give Lucifer the evil eye.  “Come on, tell me.  What gives?”

“Nothing I can’t handle, my dear,” he said.  Giving Trixie a hug, he asked her, “Isn’t it close to dinner time? What would you like to eat?”

The little girl’s face lit up.  “In-N-Out!”

“Bloody hell, we... we just had that for lunch,” the Devil said with dismay.  “Don’t you ever get tired of it?”

“Nope!”

“Trixie, baby, can you go back and work on your homework for a bit?  I need to talk to Lucifer in private,” Chloe said with a meaningful glare at her husband.

The little girl’s face grew anxious.  “Are you going to yell at each other?  Please don’t yell, Mommy.  It’s not good for the baby.”

“I won’t yell.  Now go on.”

As soon as she heard Trixie’s bedroom door slam, Chloe rounded on Lucifer with fire in her eyes.  “Now what the  _ hell _ is going on?” she hissed.

“No yelling, my dear, it’s not good for the baby,” Lucifer said with a grin, her ire at him filling him with desire.

“I.  Am.  Not.  Yelling.  But I will if you don’t tell me what’s going on,” she ground out through clenched teeth.

Reaching out, he tried to pull her into his arms, but she batted his arms away.  Not to be dissuaded, he reached out again and enveloped her in a warm embrace.  He felt her struggle against him a bit, then finally relax.  Smiling as he closed his eyes and pressed his cheek against her hair, he said, “I don’t want you to worry.”

“Well, it’s too late for that,” she muttered against his chest before pulling her head free and sighing unhappily.  “Lucifer, why won’t you talk to me?”

He kissed her on the forehead.  “We’re talking now.”

She glared at him.  “This is not talking.  This is me asking questions and you avoiding them.”

The fallen angel frowned.  That was true, but... what could he say?  He couldn’t bring himself to tell her about Orphiel’s visit.  “You already have enough on your plate,” he said finally.  “Let me handle this, love.  I can take care of it.”

“But what _ is _ it?” she asked as he started nuzzling her neck.  “Oh no, Lucifer, don’t --”

“Mmm?” he smiled against her as he started kissing his way up to her ear.  His hands started roaming her body, coaxing a response from her in seconds.

Her eyes closed as she helplessly pressed herself closer to him.  “You can’t... distract me with sex... every time you... want to avoid -- oh!”

He laughed, the sultry sound rumbling from his chest, before he kissed her passionately and pulled her down until they were both lying on the couch, with her on top of him.  “The little one’s in her room,” he whispered in his low, bedroom voice.  “Probably won’t be out for hours....  Come on, love.  Have your wicked way with me....”

“We can’t,” Chloe moaned as his hands continued to work their magic.

“Of course we can,” he said softly.  “But you have to be quiet, otherwise the child might mistake your moans for yelling --”

She hit him playfully in the chest.  “You ass....”

He just laughed as he helped her to her feet and led her to the bedroom.

 

 

________________________________________

 

 

Lucifer stared at the ceiling as a sleeping Chloe snuggled up to him in bed.  He knew he had only delayed the inevitable.  His beautiful wife was a detective, and a mighty fine one, at that.  She would keep questioning him until he gave up all of his secrets, and that was something he couldn’t have.  He could only imagine what her reaction would be if she ever found out what kind of deal he had made.

Anxiously rubbing his hand over his face, he thought hard over his options.  Perhaps Rafe could lie to the Council?  No.  That would never do -- his stodgy brother would never agree to that.  His only escape lay in the fact that the Council had promised not to do anything until they knew for sure what the baby was... but he doubted they would listen.  The angels were incredibly thick-headed.

Well, he would think of something.  There had to be a way....

 

 

________________________________________

 

 

Orphiel didn’t even give him twenty-four hours.

Early the next morning, Lucifer got up, threw on his black silk robe over his boxer shorts and padded over to the kitchen to start Sunday morning Belgium waffles when he saw a white-robed angel land on the balcony.  The visitor had mottled brown wings -- not a Warrior Elite.  Putting down the kitchen utensils, the fallen angel strode up to him.  The newcomer was Ansiel, the Constrainer -- the sod Dad always sent to force others to do what he wanted.  Not a good sign....

On his guard, he greeted his brother.  “Ansiel.  What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to see you follow up on your word, Fallen One.  That’s my job.”

Lucifer’s eyes narrowed.  “Bloody hell, it hasn’t even been twenty-four hours....”

“Orphiel can see you are doing nothing.  I’m here to... help things along.”  The angel took a few steps inside, looking around the flat.  “You live very comfortably, brother.  I can see why you like it here.  So much more comfortable than Hell.”

The fallen angel wasn’t fooled by the angel’s easy manner.  Grabbing his brother’s robes in his fists, he forced him back outside and snarled, “You bloody sod -- you go back and tell Orphiel to honor his end of the deal, or he will bloody well regret it!”

“I don’t understand you, Luci.  How can you protect a Nephilim?”

“You don’t know it’s a Nephilim!”  Frustration burned through Lucifer like a wildfire.  “Bloody hell, are you that much of a prat?  Chloe is my wife.  The baby is my child -- mine and hers.  You’re threatening my  _ family!” _

_ “We’re _ your family!” said his brother, pulling out of his grasp.

“Bollocks!  Since when have any of you acted like my family?!  This child is going to be your niece or nephew, and all you can think of doing is killing it!”

The angel looked at his brother like he was insane.  Speaking very slowly and clearly, he said, “It’s a Nephilim.  It can’t be anything else.”

Lucifer shook his head.  “No.  You don’t know that.  Go back to Orphiel,” he pleaded.  “Please.  Go back and tell him to honor his side of the deal... at least until we know for sure.”

Ansiel looked at him with pity.  “I can’t do that, brother.  You have to hold up your end of the deal.”

Bloody hell, why wouldn’t he listen?!  Unmitigated rage started boiling up within Lucifer like a volcano, and his fist shot out again, like a snake striking, to clench his brother’s robes.  “We don’t know if it’s a Nephilim, you bastard!  There is no bloody end of my deal to hold up!”

Shrugging off his grip, the angel said, “I see.  Then I will have to do the job myself.”

As he started walking back toward the sliding glass doors, Lucifer grabbed his brother and threw him into the plexiglass balcony railing.  Pulling himself to his feet, Ansiel pulled a knife from a sheath hidden at the small of his back.  Spreading his wings, he launched into flight and barreled into Lucifer, throwing him against the wall of the flat.

Crippling pain rushed through the Devil, but he couldn’t afford to rest.  Chloe’s life was at stake! Dust rose from his robe in a cloud as he peeled himself off the wall and staggered forward.  Ansiel frowned at his fallen brother.

“What happened to you?  You’re so weak, Luci,” he said in a shocked voice.

“Not so weak,” he grunted as he swung out with his fist, catching his sibling across the jaw and sending him tumbling across the balcony.  With a roar the Devil jumped on the angel, pounding on him repeatedly in the face with a berserker’s fury.  Ansiel kicked him away, sending him skidding across the tile, then jumped on him.  With a swift blow, the angel stabbed his fallen brother, slipping the knife between his ribs.  Lucifer gasped at the pain, but kept on fighting, striking out at his sibling.

“What the hell?!” Lucifer heard Chloe yell.  Glancing up, he saw his wife in the living room, a robe pulled around her, staring at them with shock.

“So... she comes to me,” the angel said with a slight smile as he punched Lucifer in the jaw, nearly knocking him out.

Oh, bloody hell, no --

As Lucifer struggled to stay conscious, Ansiel slowly rose from his brother’s prone body and started sauntering, carefree, toward the blonde woman.  Panic filled the fallen angel.  Scrambling to his feet, he threw himself on his brother.  Grappling fiercely, they rolled on the stone tile, each struggling for the knife.

Finally the Devil got a grip on Ansiel’s hair, and slammed his brother’s head hard into the floor.  The stone tile fractured into pieces, leaving a puff of dust to rise up around the angel’s head like a misty halo.  Just for good measure, Lucifer slammed his brother’s head once more into the tile, until he was sure his brother was unconscious.  With a heavy sigh, he collapsed on his opponent and tried to catch his breath.

“Lucifer!” he heard Chloe cry.

Oh, bloody hell -- he had forgotten his wife was near.  She had seen the fight, but he couldn’t afford having her question Ansiel -- that would just bring the dreaded Deal to the forefront of the conversation.  No.  Couldn’t have that!

Grimacing, Lucifer pulled himself to his feet, hauling his brother up with him.  Slinging Ansiel’s arm around his neck, the Devil wrapped his arm around the unconscious angel’s waist, and held him as securely as possible.  Blood dripped from his injury, staining his black robe and falling in fat red droplets onto the stone tile, but he ignored it.  Turning, he plastered on a smile as he looked at his wife.

She looked pale, standing there in his burgundy shirt, hastily put on.  The shirt looked oddly askew, for she had misaligned the buttons, and yet Lucifer found that strangely endearing.  He saw her gaze take in his brother.  “What the hell, Lucifer...?”

“A family squabble, nothing more,” he said cheerily, even though his insides twisted with worry at what she might think, or, worse yet, ask of him.

One of her eyebrows rose -- obviously she didn’t believe him -- but she hurried toward him when she took in the blood dripping from his side.  “You’re hurt --”

He hastily backed away, even though it felt like a white hot blade had been plunged in his side and still resided there.  He couldn’t afford her to get too close.  He had to get rid of his brother while he was still unconscious.  How to get rid of him, he didn’t know.  If he returned him to Heaven, Orphiel would just send him back again.  No... he had to put him somewhere safe until this whole mess was cleared up.

“Lucifer?” Chloe asked as her eyebrows furrowed.  “What’s wrong?”

“I... I have to take care of my brother,” he said.  The loss of blood was making him dizzy, but he gritted his teeth and held on to consciousness for dear life.

“I can take care of you both --”

“No!”  Shutting his eyes briefly against the knifing pain in his side, he shook his head.  “No,” he said more calmly as he tried to pull himself together.  “That’s not necessary, love.  I’ll handle it.  I have to go.”

His wings tore through the back of his robe as he shook them out.  Bloody hell, his side hurt.  Sodding prick with his sodding knife....

“Lucifer, wait!” he heard Chloe cry as he launched himself into the sky with his unconscious brother.

 

 

________________________________________

 

 

Bloody hell, he should have had Chloe heal him before he left.

As Lucifer reached the plane of Shotou, he found himself unable to fly in a straight line.  Like an aimless moth, fluttering this way and that with no rhyme or reason, he dipped and swayed.  Dizziness assailed him, making the world feel completely wrong.  The sun seemed too bright, darkness hovered at the fringes of his vision, and his head felt like a balloon too full of helium.  Breathing seemed a problem too.  Every time he took a deep breath, he wanted to double over in pain, so he took short little pants -- perhaps that was also contributing to his lightheadedness.

He had thought he was doing all right, until he realized the sky had turned a deep, dark blue.  No wait, that wasn’t the sky -- it was the sea...!  He was falling like a meteor out of control, and there was no time to right himself.  The sea was harder than concrete when he slammed into its blue waters, and the impact rendered him senseless.  His last thought before he lost consciousness was  _ Chloe.... _

 


	5. Not as Simple as Hoped

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A great big thank you to my wonderful beta, ScooterThyme -- you make my work shine! Thank you!

 

 

“Lucifer.”

Healing’s voice was the first thing Lucifer heard as he slowly came back to consciousness.  For a moment he didn’t move, wondering if he was hallucinating.  But no -- he seemed to be lying on bedding, not a bed, the kind Healing often pulled out of a closet and laid on the floor when someone needed somewhere to rest.  Why would he be with his brother-in-law?  The fallen angel racked his brains, trying hard to get his muddled thoughts together.  Slowly opening his eyes, he saw the god leaning over him.  Yes, that definitely was Healing, and by the looks of the wood framing over his head, he was at the god’s house, as well.  How had he gotten here?

He hadn’t realized that he had spoken until Healing answered, “Sea brought you.  You’re lucky he was close by when you hit the ocean.  He said that you and the other angel would have ended up at the bottom of the sea if you had kept going the way you had.”

Ocean?  Other angel?  What had happened?  Lucifer lifted his hand and rubbed his forehead anxiously.  There was a fight... that’s right.  Ansiel had been trying to kill Chloe...   _ Ansiel! _  Bolting upright from the bedding, he frantically looked around, his gaze darting left and right, taking in the empty room around him, before landing on his puzzled brother-in-law sitting beside him.

“Are you okay?” the god asked.

“M-my... my brother.  Where is he?” Lucifer asked as his hands twisted in the blanket covering his naked self.  He was shocked to hear the slight tremor in his voice.  Bloody hell, if Ansiel had gotten away, he could even at this moment be attacking Chloe --

“The other angel?”

“Yes.   _ Where is he?” _

For the first time since Lucifer had known him, Healing seemed... distant.  Cagey.  The healer shifted uneasily, his eyes refusing to meet the Devil’s.  “Why do you need to know?” he finally asked.

“Why?!  Bloody hell, Healing, just answer the bloody question -- where is the sodding bastard?”

Healing sighed and shook his head.  “He’s being... detained.”

Lucifer blinked.  “Detained...?”

“Detained.”

Relief flooded through the fallen angel, and the tension left his body.  Good.  Ansiel was still on this plane.  Then his brother-in-law’s words penetrated his brain, and his brow furrowed.  What did he mean by ‘detained’?

“Why are you here?” Healing asked him, his expression harder than Lucifer had ever seen.  “And why did you bring your brother here?”

“I... I didn’t know where else to go,” Lucifer answered.  “I... I’m in trouble.”

“Yes, I deduced that from the knife wound.  You had a punctured lung -- you’re lucky to be alive.”

The fallen angel’s hand automatically felt his side where the knife had penetrated, only to find smooth, undamaged skin.  “Thank you for healing me,” he said belatedly.  Healing’s gaze was razor sharp as it raked over him, making him shift uncomfortably.

“What kind of trouble are you in?”

Lucifer sighed.  “It... it’s a family matter.”

Healing looked at him with a penetrating gaze.  “And you’re my brother.  Now what’s going on?”

The Devil thought for a moment, debating how much to tell his brother-in-law.  There was always a chance that Chloe might end up talking to him, so he decided to hedge his bets and tell the healer only the bare minimum of what he needed to know.  “Ansiel is trying to kill Chloe -- Compassion.  I can’t kill him, it will just make things worse -- but I can’t let him go, either.  I intend to use the bloody sod as leverage.  Can I leave him here until I get this all worked out?”

“You can leave him here,” Healing said with a slow shake of his head, “but you might not get him back.”

“What do you mean?”

The god shook his head.  “Let’s get you dressed, and then you better come with me.”

 

 

________________________________________

 

 

Dressed in Healing’s silk robes, Lucifer followed his brother-in-law as he led the way through the small village.  There were no warm greetings like he usually received when he visited, only deathly silence and suspicious looks from the other gods.  It was definitely unnerving.  Rubbing the back of his neck anxiously, Lucifer hoped they would hurry and get to wherever Healing was taking him.  When they finally came to a clearing at the edge of the village, Lucifer groaned in dismay.

“Oh, bloody hell....”

Ansiel was chained to a very large, sprawling camphor tree, his arms stretched tightly behind him and shackled around the trunk.  One of his wings had been broken, and the large appendages were tightly pressed against the bark.  Lucifer knew what a broken wing felt like, having experienced it first hand, and winced in sympathy with his brother.  A small group of gods surrounded the tree, and pelted the angel with rotten fruit.  The Devil’s good friend, War, kept watch on the prisoner from a rock close by, but came trotting up when he spotted him.

“Angel -- good to see you up and about,” the giant said, with a grin.  “Thanks for bringing this one to us.”

Brought him to them...?  Lucifer felt like he had just fallen down the rabbit hole.  Confusion flitted across his face as he tried to figure out what was going on.

Ansiel caught sight of Lucifer and yelled out, “Lucifer!  Thank Father!  Help me, please!”

War left the pair to snarl at the captive and wave a very big sword in front of his face.  “Shut up, little winged man!”

Lucifer took one step toward his bound brother, then whirled on the healer.  “What is going on?”

“I wish you hadn’t brought him here,” Healing said quietly.

“These people are crazy!  Help me!” the angel continued to yell, his voice full of panic and fear as he ignored War.  A rotten piece of fruit caught him in the chest and slid down his robes, leaving an ugly, red mess.

“Stand down, War,” Healing ordered, which had the war god baring his teeth at Ansiel before he resumed his place on the rock.

“Bloody hell,” Lucifer muttered as he started toward Ansiel, but Healing caught him by the arm.

“Listen, there are things you don’t know....”

A woman approached the fallen angel -- a small, middle aged woman with black hair streaked with gray.  Lucifer recognized her as Weaver, one of the first Old Gods he had ever encountered.  She had run away in terror that first time, but he had met her a few times since.  She had always been kind to him after that initial meeting, even crafting him a beautiful bolt of black silk which he had yet to have made into a suit.  Usually her expression was open and kind, but this day she looked angry, her face full of tight lines and a frown.

He cocked her head at her, his expression full of puzzlement.  “Weaver...?”

“That winged man killed my husband,” she said in a bitter voice.  Her eyes were hard as she looked at Lucifer.  “I thank you for bringing him, for now at last justice can be served.”

What?!

“But I didn’t bring him for you,” he said in a faltering voice.  “I --”

“I remember that winged man,” she continued, as if he hadn’t spoken.  “As if I could ever forget that face!  The Constrainer, he called himself.  He was very vicious during the Expulsion.”

Lucifer started getting a very bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

“My condolences for your loss, Weaver, but... it was war, wasn’t it?” he asked.  “Death happens on the battlefield -- unfortunate, but unavoidable.”

She turned angry eyes to him.  “My husband wasn’t a soldier, Angel.  He wasn’t even on the battlefield.”  She waved angrily at Ansiel.  “That monster killed him in cold blood.  Ceramicist was a pacifist!  He didn’t even own a weapon!”

Oh, bloody hell....

“My husband was at home, making pots -- not harming anyone!  That... winged beast struck him down and set fire to our house.  I barely got out alive!” she cried, tears flowing from her eyes.  “He’s a monster!  A monster!”

Healing embraced Weaver with comforting arms, and looked at Lucifer.  “Ceramicist was a great loss to us all.  Fire had to take over his duties, but it hasn’t been the same.”

“Lucifer!  Help me!” Ansiel yelled once again.  “Please!”

“Bloody hell,” he muttered sotto voce and strode up to his bound brother.  “Is it true?” he asked him in a hard voice.  “Did you kill this woman’s husband in cold blood?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the angel said, his eyes rolling around in fear.  “They want to kill me!  Please, brother, free me!  Help me!”

“Ansiel, I want you to think back very carefully,” Lucifer said with as much patience as he could muster.  “During the Expulsion... did you kill an unarmed god who was doing nothing more than making a bloody pot?”

The fallen angel studied his brother carefully and could see exactly when Ansiel remembered, for guilt suddenly swamped the angel’s face.

“Bloody hell!” the Devil shouted.  “You idiot!  You sodding idiot!  Have you no honor?!  Why would you do that, you bastard?!”

“It wasn’t my fault -- Father ordered it,” Ansiel cried.  “He said to get rid of them all!  I’m not to blame!  Please, Lucifer -- I’m your family.  Your brother.  You can’t leave me here to be killed by these crazy people!”

The fallen angel wanted to pummel something very badly -- mostly his brother, but he hated taking his frustrations out on a helpless man.  Now what was he to do?  Obviously his brother deserved -- and needed punishment, but his death here on this plane meant sure death for Chloe, and he couldn’t have that.  He desperately needed time to think and figure out a damned solution.  Rubbing his face with both hands in frustration, he thought hard before turning to Weaver.

“Look, I know this bloody sod needs punishment, but can you please hold off killing him until I return?  It’s imperative we keep him alive for now.”

The goddess’s eyes were hard as she glanced from Ansiel to Lucifer.  “You are siding with this disgusting creature?”

“No!” the fallen angel said, at the same time his brother cried, “Help me!  You’re my brother!”

“I did not think you were cut from the same cloth as this one... was I wrong?” she asked with narrowed eyes.

“I’m not like him,” Lucifer said with a lift of his chin.  “He has no honor and deserves to be punished.”

“Lucifer!” Ansiel wept.

“But I need him alive for now.” With pleading eyes, the fallen angel stared hard at the older woman.  “Compassion’s life is in danger.  I need this sodding idiot alive for leverage.  Do you understand?”

Her mouth tightened ominously.  “You want him to live,” she spat.  “You are no better than he is.”

“Bloody hell, Weaver, I’m nothing like him --”

‘Weaver,” Healing interrupted with a gentle hand on her arm, “You know Angel.  He’s not like the other winged men.  He wasn’t even around during the Expulsion.  The Usurper had already cast him into the underworld by then.  He’s the one Compassion chose.  She would not choose someone unworthy.”

For a long moment the woman just studied Lucifer, raking him up and down with her eyes, before finally coming to a decision.  “So what is it you wish?” she asked him.

He let out the breath he hadn’t even realized he was holding.  “Right.  I want you to keep him here until I return.  We will figure this all out, I promise.”

“I want satisfaction for my husband’s death.”

Nodding, Lucifer said, “I understand, and I will be sure you bloody well have it.” Giving her one of his wicked grins, he said, “After all, punishment is what I am best at.”

“Hmph,” was all Weaver said before turning away.  She walked a few steps away before turning and giving the Devil a hard look.  “Don’t disappoint me, Angel.”

“I won’t.”

“Bloody hell,” he whispered as he and Healing started to follow the angry goddess away from the tree.

“Lucifer!  You can’t leave me here!” Ansiel yelled after them, his yells making Lucifer want to go and punch him until he was unconscious.  Sodding prick without any bloody honor!  He was ashamed to call him his brother.

“Quiet, dog,” War barked at him, then waved goodbye to the Devil and the healer as they left.

“So what are you going to do?” Healing asked.

“I don’t know yet, but I’ll think of something,” he replied.  He had to.  Chloe’s life was at stake....

 


	6. Trying to Avoid the Unavoidable

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many thanks to my excellent beta, ScooterThyme! You make my work shine!

 

 

Chloe was waiting for Lucifer when he returned.

Her arms were folded, and she was tapping one foot -- a bad sign.  Dressed in sexy maternity jeans, a loose tee shirt and her signature leather jacket, she looked good enough to eat, in his eyes.  She had spotted him right away as she scanned the skies, and even at a distance he could see her narrowed eyes and angry expression.

Bloody hell, he had hoped she would have gone on errands or something.  It was around one o’clock -- he hadn’t realized he had been gone so long.  He didn’t see Trixie with her mother -- that’s right, the little one had a birthday party luncheon to go to. Well, perhaps that was good.  This was one confrontation he did not want to have with witnesses around.  He sighed as he landed on the balcony and folded his wings.

“Been to see Healing, I see,” she snapped as she studied him dressed in the native clothes of her celestial relatives.  He gave her a sheepish smile as he shrugged on the sleeves of Healing’s robes.  He had slipped them off and let hang over his belt so that his wings wouldn’t tear the silk.

“I don’t suppose you know how to fold these clothes, do you, love?” he asked hopefully.  At her glare, he continued, “No?  Oh, very well.  I’ll have to ask Healing the next time I see him....”

“Stop trying to change the subject.  It won’t work,” she snarled at him.  “What happened to your brother?”

“Brother?”

She rolled her eyes.  “The other angel, Lucifer.”

“He’s... indisposed.”  Swiftly walking past her, he entered the flat and went straight to the bar.  “Would you like some seltzer, my dear?  I’m dying for a shot of Scotch....”

_“Lucifer!”_

At Chloe’s strangled scream, the fallen angel sighed and gave up on getting himself some alcohol.  Turning his back to the bar counter, he leaned against it and faced his wife.  “Yes, love?”

He watched with trepidation as she marched right up to him and slapped him hard across the cheek.  “Stop prevaricating, you ass!”

Bloody hell, his wife’s slaps and punches were getting stronger by the day.  He wondered if her pregnancy had anything to do with that.  Her blows were so arousing, as was her incredible fire, but sometimes he wished she would hit him in bed instead of when they were arguing.  Oh, the incredible sex they would have!

Was he looking at her with unadulterated hunger?  He must have been, for her face grew frustrated and her hand shot out again, this time hitting his other cheek.  Rubbing the heat radiating from his face at the blow, he said sulkily, “Very well, Detective.”

“Now, answer me.  What the hell happened this morning?”

Lucifer turned back to the bar with a sigh, and reached for the decanter of Scotch sitting on a tray with some shot glasses.  “A family squabble,” he answered as he poured himself a drink.  “Nothing to concern yourself with, love.”

Chloe’s expression grew concerned.  “Are you in some sort of trouble?”

The fallen angel downed the Scotch and lowered the glass to the counter before he turned back to his wife.  “It’s nothing I can’t handle --”

“I’m your wife,” she interrupted him, her aqua eyes filled with worry.  “If you’re in trouble, I want to help.”

He sighed and took her hands in his.  “I know, love, and I appreciate it.  But right now, I really just want to make love to my beautiful wife.”  He pulled her close and started nuzzling her neck.  He felt her tremble against him as her passion started to rise.

“Lucifer --”

“I’ve missed you....”  He pulled her close and turned her so that he was pressed up against her back.  Wrapping his arms around her, he caressed her with expert hands as he nibbled on her earlobe.  “Come on, love...”

She tilted her head back, exposing her long neck to his kisses.  “Lucifer, no -- we have to talk...”

He smiled against her skin.  “Please, Chloe....”

At the sound of her given name, she gave in with a sigh.  Taking his hand in hers, she led him to the bedroom.

 

 

________________________________________

 

 

Lucifer wrapped his arm around his wife as they spooned in bed.  The sex had been fantastic, as always, but there had been a desperate quality to it.  Truth be told, he was afraid -- not that he’d ever admit it to anyone.  He knew he couldn’t keep putting off the inevitable -- eventually she would find out about the bloody deal.  When that happened, he was certain that all hell was going to break loose and land directly on his head.  Would she understand?  Would she not?  The uncertainty caused his insides to twist into tangled knots that grew tighter with each passing moment.

Reaching over, he caressed her belly while she slept.  His reward was a kick from the baby -- a strong, healthy kick.  The thought that he and Chloe had made such an active tyke between them filled him with pride.  He wondered what the baby would be like.  Would the baby have powers?  Or would it just be a human?  It was the first time he had ever really thought about it.  Most of the time he was filled with too much terror over it to be able to think straight.

And of course, there was the issue of a name....

Chloe stirred under his hand, and he pulled back as she flipped to her back.  He reached over and smoothed her blonde locks away from her face as she turned to look at him.

“Hello, love,” he whispered.

She smiled at him -- a beautiful, sleepy smile full of love.  “Hey.”

“You’re lovely, do you know that?”  He leaned forward and kissed her shoulder.  She chuckled softly, the sound like music to his ears.

“You’re bad, do you know that?”

“My dear, I _am_ the Devil,” he replied with pride, which caused her to give him a big grin.  It warmed his heart to see her so happy... but then she grew serious.

“Lucifer... what is going on?  Why were you fighting with your brother?”

The fallen angel frowned.  He should have known his detective wife wouldn’t be distracted for long.  She was too good of a cop for that.  “It... it was merely... a simple disagreement.”

“I don’t buy it.  That’s twice now that you’ve been attacked.  I want to know what’s going on.”

What could he say to that?  Nothing... so he didn’t.  Instead he snuggled up close to her and let his hands start roaming her body.

“No, nope, uh-uh, mister,” Chloe said as she batted his hands away and sat up.  “No.  We are going to talk about this, Lucifer.”

Bloody hell.  He couldn’t use that trick a second time, apparently.  With a disgruntled sigh, threw himself back on the pillows and stared up at the ceiling.

He felt her eyes on his face as she said softly, “If you’re in some sort of trouble, I want to help.”

Glancing at her, he saw the concern in her face and felt his heart clench.  Causing her anxiety was the last thing he wanted to do... and yet that was what he was doing.  Frustration filled him, making his lips tighten into a straight line.  Finally he said, “I... I don’t want to worry you.”

Chloe gave him a steady look.  “I’m not made of glass, husband.  I’m a cop -- a detective.  I can handle just about anything.  Just talk to me.”

As if it were that easy....  “Right.  It’s not... I can’t --”

“We’re husband and wife -- we made vows to each other.  You’re supposed to worry me, just as I’m supposed to worry you.  Through good times and bad, remember?  We’re supposed to support each other, work things out together.”

He couldn’t.  He just couldn’t.  Shaking his head, he said, “Not with the baby so close.”

Chloe rolled her eyes and let out a disappointed sigh.  “Okay, look.  I understand where you’re coming from, but we can’t keep secrets from one another -- we have to share everything, otherwise this marriage means nothing.”

Lucifer looked out the window that was pouring in sunlight, but saw nothing.  The knots in his insides were tightening ever more, giving him a stomach ache.

When he didn’t respond, she said softly, “Please... just think about it, okay?”

“Very well,” he finally said.  He felt rather than saw her get up, and turned at her movements.  A brief rush of fear shot through him; was she upset?   “Where are you going?”

“I have to go fetch Trixie from her birthday luncheon,” Chloe said as she started to pull on his robe.

Lucifer shook his head as he bounded up out of bed.  “No, I’ll go love.  You just rest.  I’ll be back.”

She gazed over at him, an amused smile lighting her face.  “I can do it.  I just told you I”m not made of glass.”

Relieved at her lighthearted manner, he chuckled.  “I know.  I know that, love....  I just want you to take it easy.  It can’t be easy carrying around the little one.”

She laughed.  “Well, it won’t be long before this little one will be out in the real world, and then _you_ can carry the baby around.”

The thought scared Lucifer to death.  “But... what if I drop it?”

“You won’t.  I trust you, and so does the baby.”  She kissed him on the cheek, making the heat rush up his neck and into his cheeks, tinting them a charming shade of red.

 

 

________________________________________

 

 

Lucifer thought hard about what she said the entire time he drove to pick up Trixie from her birthday luncheon.  Chloe was right, of course.  His wise wife was always right about these things.  It had gone on long enough -- he had to tell her about the deal.  She might end up hating him, but that was a chance he had to take.  He hoped that she would understand.  After all, he was sure the baby wasn’t a Nephilim!  The deal he made would never come to fruition, because the baby would never be what everyone feared.  Surely she would see that?

The little human was bursting with energy and happiness when he picked her up, discussing the party and her friends, and of course the cake.  Her chatter helped soothe his twisting nerves.  He was thankful for the interlude of tranquility from his fervent thoughts.

He decided to talk to Chloe right after he brought Trixie home, but in this he was thwarted.  The little girl ran to tell her mother all about her day, and Lucifer couldn’t get a word in edgewise.  With a sigh, he made them dinner, hoping for a quiet moment before they ate -- but no.  So he had to wait until after dinner, when the little one ran off to read a book in her room.  

With a little resignation and a lot of anxiety, Lucifer led Chloe over to the living room and sat her down on the couch.  Taking a seat next to her, he leaned his head against her shoulder as they both lay against the backrest.  Worry chewed massive holes in the fabric of his peace of mind; he found it extremely difficult to even start the conversation.

“Right.  Listen, love... about what you said this afternoon....”

That caught her attention, and she perked up.  “Yes?”

“You know, about not having any secrets between us?  And sharing everything?”

“I remember.”  Chloe must have seen his anxiety, for she looked deep into his eyes and reached over to tease his hair back from his forehead.  “It’s okay, Lucifer.  You know I love you.”

“Right.”  He took a deep breath, but couldn’t find the words.  “Bloody hell!”  He tried again.  “I have to tell you about... well... this deal I made --”

“Yes, Lucifer, why don’t you tell her?” a new voice interrupted, which caused both Lucifer and Chloe to sit up immediately.  The fallen angel’s eyes darted to the balcony, from where the loud voice had emanated.

Orphiel stood there, watching them with interest.

 


	7. Truths Revealed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A huge thank you to my excellent beta, ScooterThyme! You rock!!

 

 

“Yes, Lucifer, why don’t you tell her?”

Lucifer watched with dismay as Orphiel stepped into the living room from the balcony, his cold eyes studying the couple like a snake sizing up its prey.  Rising to his feet, the fallen angel stood protectively in front of Chloe, all his senses on heightened alert.

“What are you doing here, Orph?” he snapped.

“Looking for my man,” the archangel said as he walked up, but stayed just out of range of striking distance.  He ruffled his large wings, making him look even more enormous in the room, but Lucifer was not intimidated.  Standing tall, the Devil lifted his chin defiantly.

“You shouldn’t have sent him here in the first place.”

“I would not have had to, if you had kept up your end of the bargain.”

“What’s he talking about?” Lucifer heard Chloe ask from behind him, confusion in her voice.  Bloody hell, he wished he could get her as far away from his brother as he possibly could.  Fear, like a mad thing, skittered up and down his spine as he cursed Orphiel for bringing up the deal.

Keeping his voice as calm as possible, he answered his wife without taking his eyes off his brother.  “Nothing you need to concern yourself with, love.”

Orphiel laughed, the sound harsh and mocking.  “I find it laughable that you never told her... and you still can’t tell her, even now.”

“Tell me what?” asked Chloe as she got to her feet.

“Ignore him, love,” Lucifer said, finally glancing back at her, to see her eyes narrowed and her expression suspicious.  Bloody hell....  He had to get his brother to leave!  Turning back to the angel, he spat with a feral grin, “Let’s discuss this on the balcony, shall we?”

“Your attempt to hide the truth from your wife amuses me to no end.”

“Shut up, you sod, and let’s go to the balcony.”

“No, let’s discuss it here, in front of your wife.  After all, this concerns her,” Orphiel said as he stared at Lucifer with intense eyes.

“Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on?!” Chloe demanded, pushing her way to her husband’s side.  “Why are you here?”

Panicked, Lucifer took Chloe’s upper arms in his hands and turned her toward him.  “Please, love,” he begged.  “Please go to the other room.”

“Like hell,” she snarled.  “If this concerns me, then I stay.”  Her eyes softened as they met his.  “Please, Lucifer.  I’m your wife.  Whatever troubles you have are mine, as well....”

Bloody hell....  If only Orphiel hadn’t come!  This was the worst possible way for her to find out.  He feared she would hate him now, but deep in his heart he hoped that she would understand.

“Look, love, I need to tell you --”

“Yes, tell her, Fallen One,” Orphiel goaded.  “Tell her about the deal you made.  Tell her about how you promised to kill your own child.”

Lucifer’s head whipped toward his brother, his eyes ablaze with fury.  Orphiel’s expression of smug amusement made him want to plant his fist in his brother’s face.  “I did _not_ \--”

“You deny what you swore in front of the entire Council?  Or have you conveniently forgotten?”

“Bloody hell, I haven’t forgotten, but I didn’t say --”

“You said you’d deal with the baby.  Gave us your word.  Can you deny that?”

He couldn’t deny Orphiel’s statement.  He _had_ said he’d deal with the baby -- not kill it, but deal with it.  Lucifer felt the blood rush out of his face; he opened his mouth, but nothing came out.  Lightheadedness, coupled with a sense of disorientation, washed over him.  For a few seconds he felt as if he was in a dream... a nightmare.  Oh, if only... but no.  This was reality.

Dread shot up and down his spine as he returned his gaze to his wife.  She looked... stunned.  Her aqua eyes looked huge in a face too pale, and they searched his, looking for... what?  He wasn’t sure.

“Chloe --” he began, but what could he say?  But he had to try to make her understand.

“What is he talking about?” she asked in a hoarse whisper.

“It’s not like that.  Chloe, please --”

“He promised to kill your child, Old God.”  At Orphiel’s words, Chloe’s eyes swung to him, then back at her husband, shaking her head.  Her lips formed the word, “no,” but no sound issued forth.  Lucifer could only stare at her helplessly as he watched his entire world tumble down around his ears.

“He swore on his word to the entire Council that he would deal with it,” Orphiel continued.

“Y-you lie,” she whispered, but her eyes never left Lucifer’s.

“I’m not lying.”

“M-my husband would never do anything like that,” she said in a stronger voice, although her face remained as white as a sheet.

Orphiel just laughed.  “Are you so sure?  He is the Devil.  Evil Incarnate.  The Fallen One.  Are you so sure you know him?”

“I know him,” she said fiercely.  Squeezing her eyes shut, she ground out, “I know him.  He would never promise that.  He would never --”

“Then why don’t you ask him?” Orphiel asked.  Leaning forward, he said in a strong voice, “Ask him.  Ask if he swore he would deal with the baby.   _Ask him.”_

“I will,” Chloe snapped, “and he will prove you wrong.”  Staring hard at her husband, she started to speak but suddenly faltered as she gazed at him.  “Lucifer...?”

What could he say that could fix this?  But it was too late -- she could see the truth written on his bloodless face.  With desperation he searched his wife’s eyes, studied her expression, hoping for even a hint of understanding, of trust, of... faith.  Instead, all he saw was horror.  Disbelief.  “Chloe....”

Shaking her head, she whispered, “No.  No.  Lucifer, tell me you did not make this deal.”

“Chloe, love, please listen, it’s not what you think --”

“Tell me he’s lying.”  Her voice shook as her face became hard, unyielding.

“Chloe --”

_“Tell me!”_ she shouted at him.

His head recoiled as if she had struck him.  But what could he say?  “It wasn’t like --”

“He can’t.  He can’t, because he did swear,” Orphiel said.  Lucifer could hear the amusement and triumph in his brother’s voice, but he was too distressed with his wife’s state of mind to care.

“No.  Lucifer would never... he would never....!” she cried in a voice that wobbled slightly as her eyes grew bright with unshed tears.  “My husband would never....”

“Please listen, love, it’s not what you think.  Let me explain,” Lucifer said desperately, but she pulled out of his grasp and backed away from him.

“Were you ever going to tell me?” she asked in a thin and reedy voice, full of hurt.

“Chloe, please --”

“Or were you just going to do it?”

“No!  Please, let me explain --”

“Yes, explain, Lucifer.  I’d love to hear your reasoning,” Orphiel chimed in, chortling.  Lucifer wanted to punch the prick in the face, but there were more important things he had to deal with.

“God, I’m such a fool,” Chloe ground out as she shook her head.  “I can’t believe.... Why didn’t you tell me?  Why?”

“I....”  Swallowing hard, he finally said, “I didn’t want you to worry --”

“Worry?   _Worry?!”_  A harsh laugh escaped her as she stared at him with disbelief all over her face.  “I can’t believe you.  You lied to me!  You said you’d never lie to me!”

Lucifer winced at her shouts.  “I didn’t lie --”

“You lied by omission!  Damn it, Lucifer, I thought we were husband and wife!  Spouses are supposed to share things!  We’re not supposed to have secrets between us!”

“Please, please let me explain --”

“What is there to explain?!” she snapped.  “How could you promise to kill our child?!”

“I didn’t --”

“He did,” Orphiel interrupted, his eyes dancing with amusement.  Lucifer, intent on reaching his wife, ignored him.

“Please... Chloe, please listen to me --”

Her fist shot out and caught him across the jaw.  His head snapped back from the blow, but he managed to stay on his feet.  Hurt blossomed in his chest, coursing through his veins like acid eating through his flesh, and his shoulders slumped in defeat.  Blood finally rushed back into his face, bringing a wretched heat with it, as his jaw started to immediately swell and ache.  Tears -- not from the blow but from his wife’s reaction -- distorted his vision, but he refused to let them fall.  He merely gazed at his wife with overly-bright eyes.

Chloe just stared at him.  For a second she looked regretful, before anger took its place.  Then she was pummeling his chest, calling him a bastard as her own tears began to rain down her cheeks.  Lucifer opened his arms and tried to embrace her, but she twisted away and cursed him.

“How could you do this?” she cried as the violent energy left as quickly as it had come.  “I thought I knew you....”

Frustration started gnawing at him.  How could he make her listen?  “Bloody hell, you do know me!  Just give me a chance to explain --”

“What is there to explain?  You promised to kill our child.  That’s unacceptable.”  Shoving past him, she walked away.  “You’re worse than Dan.  I can’t even look at you right now.  I’m getting Trixie and we’re getting out of here.”

As Lucifer watched her go, his heart shattered into a million pieces.  Worse than Dan....  She couldn’t even look at him....

“You know you were never meant to have a family, Luci,” Orphiel said.  “I’ve just done you a huge favor.”

The fallen angel’s mind went blank with rage.  Without any kind of warning, he jumped on his brother with a roar and started pummeling him for all he was worth.  Orphiel fought back, clubbing Lucifer on the head to get him to stop, but the rage in the Devil was too great.  With eyes burning with fury, the two brothers fought on the floor, overturning furniture before Lucifer finally threw his brother onto the balcony and tackled him there.

They grappled like two mad wrestlers before Orphiel finally threw Lucifer to the ground and kicked him viciously in the ribs.  The Devil cried out as pain exploded in his side.  Bloody hell....  Bloody mortality....

The archangel picked up Lucifer by the front of his shirt and shook him like a rag doll.  “Now....  Where is Ansiel?” he snarled.

“Well hidden, you b-bastard.  Honor your side of the bargain -- leave my wife and child alone until we know for sure what the baby is -- and I’ll return him to you,” he wheezed.

Orphiel punched him in the face, then picked him up and slammed him hard into the balcony tile.  Lucifer felt a crippling pain in his arm as a sickening crunch filled the air.  “You are in no position to bargain, Luci.”

“Kill me, and you’ll never get your bloody man back,” he managed to say with a grin before he spit the blood out of his mouth.  “Now leave us alone.”

“I shall consider it.  In the meantime, _you_ should consider holding up your end of the bargain.  The Old God hates you now -- there are no more obstacles to keep you from killing her and the Nephilim.”

“The o-only obstacle is s-something you would never understand,” Lucifer said as he struggled to his feet.

“And what’s that?”

“I l-love her.”

Orphiel barked out a contemptuous laugh.  “Please, Luci, you never loved anyone or anything in your entire life.”  His fist shot out and knocked Lucifer back down onto the ground.  He stood over his brother and shook his head.  “Earth has made you weak, brother.  Make life easy for yourself.  Fulfill your side of the deal.”

With that, the archangel spread his wings and took off for heaven.

“Prick,” Lucifer managed to spit out as he slowly pulled himself to his feet, holding his broken arm against what he was sure were broken ribs.  Bloody hell, he was in bad shape....

As he turned, he caught sight of Chloe striding into the living room with a suitcase in her hand, and Trixie in tow.  Her eyes widened as she took in his battered appearance, and she briefly looked like she wanted to help him... but only briefly.  Then her expression hardened and she lifted her chin.

“We’re going to my mother’s,” she snapped.  “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t come around.”

Trixie, meanwhile, wrenched out of her mother’s grasp and ran to Lucifer, wrapping her arms around his waist tightly and squeezing her eyes shut.  “I don’t want to go!  Please let me stay!”

“Trixie, baby, come here --” Chloe called, but did not take any steps closer.

With a groan, Lucifer bent down so that he could look at the little girl in the eye.  He was sure he looked a mess, with blood all over him, but she didn’t seem to care.  She threw arms around his neck and hugged him so tightly he could barely breathe.  Pain shot up and down his broken arm and echoed in his ribs, but he gritted his teeth and ignored it as he tried to smile for his stepdaughter.  It probably looked more like a grimace -- which it was -- but he did his best to look like his normal self.

Pulling her back with his good arm, he said, “Right.  You have to go with your mother, child.”

Big tears spilled from her eyes.  “Why?  Don’t you love me anymore?”

Bloody hell.  “I... I will love you forever,” he said, surprising himself at how desperately he meant it.  “But... your mother and I have had an argument.  You need to look after her and the baby.  Can you do that for me?”

Trixie nodded once, but looked at him with her soulful eyes.  “But who will look after you?”

Giving a bark of laugh full of false bravado, he said, “I’m the Devil, child!  I don’t need looking after!”  He hugged her little body to his, wanting more than anything to hold on forever, but he forced himself to pull back.  “Now, go on.  Take care of your mother.”

“Will I see you again?”

“That’s up to your mother, but I certainly hope so, child.”

As he watched Trixie slowly walk back to her mother, Lucifer stood tall as the only thing left to him kicked in.  Squeezing his eyes shut, he pushed back all the pain he felt and pulled his pride about him like a tattered cloak.

“Goodbye Lucifer.”  Chloe’s voice had his eyes flying open.  She was going....

“Goodbye,” he said in a voice as frigid as a winter storm, which he desperately hoped would mask the sound of his heart breaking.  They stared at each other a long moment, before she started walking toward the elevator with Trixie.  Unwilling to watch his family walk out of his life, he turned his back and waited.

After a long moment, he heard the doors open and close.  The elevator whined as it shot down and away, ripping his heart right out of his chest.

He didn’t know how long he stood there on the balcony, swaying like a dying reed ready to fall in the smallest puff of wind.  His whole life lay shattered around him.  There was no life without Chloe in it.  There was nothing.  All of his hopes for the future, his expanding family, the happiness that he had felt... all of it was gone, leaving nothing but the massive hurt to his soul.  Collapsing to his knees on the hard tile, he finally let the tears fall.

 


	8. To Mom's House

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A very big thank you to my wonderful beta, ScooterThyme! Thank you for all your hard work!

 

 

Chloe could barely keep her shaking hands steady on the wheel as she drove.  Her fury had left and shock was setting in -- her heart was beating like a mad thing in her chest, and she thought she was going to throw up.  Taking deep breaths, she struggled to get control of herself.

She just couldn’t believe what had just happened.  Surely she hadn’t just left Lucifer?  This had to be some sort of crazy nightmare.  The world felt so surreal, and she herself felt disoriented.  It was like a part of her stood on the outside, looking in.  Her emotions felt dead.  Shouldn’t she still be raging?  Maybe it was the shock.  She just couldn’t seem to keep her thoughts straight.  It had to be a bad dream.  Surely she would wake up soon....

But that was the problem.  She was awake, and she wished she wasn’t.  Replaying the conversation with Lucifer over and over in her head, she couldn’t understand how everything could have come to this.  Her Devil had been so good to her all this time -- protecting her, helping her, even putting himself in danger in order to find a cure for her when her heart was giving her pain.  And yet...

How could he offer to kill his own baby?  It made absolutely no sense.  She just couldn’t wrap her head around it.  Lucifer was so good with Trixie, and so good to her.  How could he offer to kill the baby?  How could he even think of hurting the child they had made together?!

She glanced in her rear view mirror to peek at Trixie, sitting in the back seat.  Her daughter had that angry look on her face, frowning for all she was worth as she stared out the window.  The lights from the passing streetlamps reflected off the tracks her tears had made down her cheeks.

Chloe sighed.  This was one conversation she was not looking forward to.

She drove her car into the first parking lot she saw, which happened to be a Target lot.  Trixie didn’t even look up as Chloe turned off the engine and got into the back seat to sit next to her.

“Hey, monkey,” she said softly.

Trixie just hunched up next to the car door next to her.  

“Can we talk?”

The little girl said nothing, just continued staring out the window.

“Look, I know it’s hard for you to understand, but Lucifer and I had an argument --”

“I know,” Trixie said, her voice thick with emotion.  “He told me.”

“I see.  And what did he say?” she asked, fear creeping up her spine.  She knew her husband could act out like a five year old at times -- surely he wouldn’t have said anything to turn Trixie against her...?  She remembered all the times when Dan had tried....

“He told me to take care of you and the baby.”

Take care of...?  There he was again -- the man she had fallen in love with, the one who had saved her time and again.  Chloe’s heart felt shattered by loss and sorrow, the two emotions so tightly entwined that she couldn’t tell one from the other.  It made her mind spin madly as if she was on a merry-go-round, making her so dizzy she couldn’t even think straight.  How could that kind, gentle man be the same one who swore to kill her baby?

Tears burned at the back of her eyes, but she refused to let them fall.  Letting Trixie see her tears wasn’t an option... but she couldn’t keep the wobble out of her voice when she said, “That sounds like Lucifer.”

Trixie finally turned and looked at her mother, her eyes big and full of tears.  “Why did we have to leave, Mommy?  I want to stay with Lucifer....”

Oh god, how was she to put this so it wouldn’t scar her daughter forever?  Trixie already had had such trauma with Dan....  She couldn’t bring herself to tell the little girl that Lucifer had wanted to harm the baby.  “Well, baby, sometimes adults just argue.  And sometimes those arguments require a little bit of... time away from each other so that everyone can cool down.  Do you understand?”

“Like a time out?”

She let out a chuckle despite her emotions being battered against the rocks of reality.  “Yes, like a time out.  Mommy and Lucifer are taking a bit of a time out.”

“Like you did with Daddy?” the little girl asked with worry written all over her face.  “Are you going to divorce Lucifer like you divorced Daddy?”

Chloe shook her head.  “I don’t know, baby.  Let’s just take it one day at a time, okay?”

Trixie nodded unhappily.  “Okay, but I don’t like it.  Lucifer will be so lonely....”

The blonde woman sighed.  Her daughter really knew how to turn the knife.  Desperate to change the subject, she said, ‘We’re going to visit Nana now, okay?  You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

“Not really....”

Chloe sighed.  Ever since Penelope had let Dan take Trixie to the desert while under Aphrodite’s thrall, the little girl showed a distinct dislike of staying at her grandmother’s house.  Completely understandable, seeing as how Trixie was still dealing with the residual issues of the kidnapping, but it made things complicated at times like now... when Chloe needed her daughter to cooperate.

“Well, I’m sure Nana will be happy to see you, so that’s where we’re going,” Chloe said firmly.  “Come here.”  She gave her daughter a big hug and rubbed her back.  “Don’t worry, baby, we’re going to be okay.”

“But will Lucifer?” Trixie asked.  Remembering how her husband looked when they had left -- battered, bloodied, broken -- Chloe couldn’t answer that, for she didn’t know.

 

 

________________________________________

 

 

“I told you he was no good.”

“Mom.”

“I knew from the first moment I laid eyes on him.”

“Mom --”

“Just trouble, I thought, with his playboy ways --”

“Mom!” Chloe finally yelled at her mother.  Rubbing her temples with her fingertips as she planted her elbows against the dining table, she said, “Please.  Just stop.”

Chloe heaved a big sigh.  She knew this had been a mistake.  Her heart ached terribly, and a part of her was _still_ reeling.  Thank goodness she made sure Trixie was asleep before discussing Lucifer with her mother.  The last thing she needed was her mother telling her “I told you so” in front of her daughter....

“Look, pumpkin, I just want what’s best for you, and obviously Lucifer isn’t it.”  The older woman took her hand and squeezed it.  “How could he upset you this close to your due date?  Doesn’t he realize that you could go into premature labor?”

“Mom, this really isn’t helping,” Chloe said.  “Like I said before, Lucifer and I had an argument and I’m just here to try to sort things out.”

Penelope sniffed.  “Sounds like more than just an argument.  What did you argue about?”

The younger woman shrugged uncomfortably.  She really didn’t want to tell her mother -- it would just give her more ammunition against Lucifer.  Then again, what did it matter?  The Lucifer she loved apparently wasn’t the real Lucifer.  And yet... it still did matter to her.  Why, she did not know.  But it did.  “We just had a disagreement.”

“Well  I can’t say I’m upset about it.  He was a playboy -- a womanizer.  It’s a good thing that he’s out of your life.  He probably would have given you an STD.”

God, the old “womanizer” argument again!  “He was always faithful to me,” she bit off.

“You _think_ he was, but how do you know?”

_“Mom!”_

Penelope lifted her chin defensively.  “You can’t blame me for being worried about you.  You should divorce him.  He doesn’t deserve you.”

Chloe’s insides immediately churned at the very thought of divorce.  God, she just wanted to weep.  “Mom, please....”

Penelope frowned.  “You can’t tell me you still love him...?”

Did she?  She didn’t know.  She had thought she had known who he was, but apparently she hadn’t known him at all.  The kind and caring man he was -- had that all been just a lie?  Was she in love with the actual Lucifer, or just an illusion?

“I don’t know, Mom.”  She folded her arms in front of her on the table and buried her head in them.  “I just don’t know.  It’s too early to tell.”

Her mother sighed.  “I wish you had stayed with Dan.  This would have never happened if you had....”

Chloe felt like screaming.  Dan, again!  Two months ago, she had finally told Penelope in no uncertain terms that her ex-husband had not been a good guy.  Her mother had steadfastly refused to believe it, instead preferring to believe that Lucifer was the one was was always at fault.  Completely unreliable, abandoning a pregnant wife, leaving Trixie with a bartender for ten days, and of course, there was the dreaded car accident....  Her mother had apparently been compiling a list as long as her arm against Lucifer.  It was awful.  Even when she had told Penelope that Dan had kidnapped her and Trixie at one point, and Lucifer had been... well, basically kidnapped for two months, her mother had refused to believe it.

Chloe lifted her head wearily.  “No, Mom.  No.  I’ve told you before, Dan is old news.  We were done before I even met Lucifer.  He kidnapped Trixie, he roofied me.  If he was as good as you think, he would have never done that, and he wouldn’t have ended up in jail.”

A shocked look crossed Penelope’s face.  “But he says he doesn’t remember doing that!  I spoke with him after you had him arrested.  He doesn’t remember any of that!”

“That doesn’t make it right, Mom.”  Getting slowly to her feet, Chloe said, “I’m really tired.  I’m going to sleep with Trixie.”

“Of course, dear.  I just wish --”

 _“Good night,_ Mom.”

But Chloe didn’t sleep.  Instead she stayed awake during the long, quiet hours of the night, wondering what the hell was it with her and men.  Why couldn’t she end up with some harmless guy who didn’t threaten her or her family?!  Or at least one who didn’t treat her like Dan did with the Palmetto incident?  Was she such a loser that she couldn’t ever find a nice, normal man to spend the rest of her life with?

“But I thought I had that,” she whispered to herself.  Well, perhaps not normal -- Lucifer was hardly normal -- but he had been nice.  Sweet.  Thoughtful.  Protective.

But apparently that had all been a dream.

And now what?  There was a baby between them, almost ready to be born....  She didn’t even know if it was going to be human or not.  It was a nightmare.  And with Lucifer out of the picture, how the hell was she going to be able to take care of it, if it had wings?  Her mother wouldn’t be able to help, that was for sure....  And what if it was a Nephilim?  What then?  What if Lucifer decided to come after her to kill the baby?

Rubbing her belly, she softly spoke to the little life within her.  “Don’t worry.  I’ll protect you, no matter what.”  As if in response, the baby kicked, which made her smile.

She rested a protective hand against her belly as she lay on her side, and wished for things to be different.  She should be in bed with Lucifer right now, laughing about the day and having hot, passionate sex -- not in her mother’s house, wondering how the hell her marriage had somehow exploded into smithereens.  Punching her pillow angrily with her fist, she prayed for sleep.  Gathering Trixie close provided some comfort.  By the early dawn hours, she finally slept.

 


	9. A Much Needed Visit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A super-big thank you to my wonderful beta, ScooterThyme! Thank you for your hard work!

 

 

For three days, Lucifer tried to drink himself into oblivion.

He couldn’t, of course.  His angelic metabolism wouldn’t let him.  But he tried anyway, drinking nonstop from morning until night.  He danced with the clubgoers, and held massive parties in his flat.  He even tried to have sex with several humans, all with the same result.  Once they started taking off their clothes, his stomach would churn most violently, and he would run to the bathroom and vomit.  Vomiting wasn’t something an angel ever did -- although a few times he had come perilously close -- so it was novel experience for him.

The first time it happened, he thought he was dying.  Then he thought that perhaps he’d had too much to drink... but that was impossible.  Vomiting had never happened before, no matter how much he imbibed.  So then he suspected he had just eaten something that hadn’t agreed with him.  Surely it couldn’t be the possibility of sex...?  When he returned to the two women in the bedroom -- by that time naked -- he promptly threw up again.  After that, he ordered them out of his bedroom.  Every time he tried to even think of having sex with someone else, the result was the same.  He just couldn’t do it.  He only wanted his wife.

Longing and loneliness wrapped themselves around his heart like twin boa constrictors, ever tightening until he felt that he was having a heart attack at times.  Desperate for some relief from his suffering, he tried to shoot himself up with drugs.  He failed spectacularly; it wasn’t an easy thing to do with just one hand.  Snorting cocaine wasn’t as easy as he had hoped either, and pills had absolutely no effect on him.  Finally giving up, he stuck to drinking like a fish.  Unfortunately nothing he did could dull the pain that he felt radiating from his heart like a sick cancer, infecting every single cell of his body, until he was just a mass of throbbing agony.

Maze noticed his odd behavior, and commented on it.

“What the hell happened to you?!” she snarled at him.  “You look like you got run over by a truck, and you’re acting like your old self.  Not that I mind -- I’ve missed all the good times we had -- but what about your  _ wife?” _

He smirked derisively as he downed a shot of bourbon.  “My wife doesn’t give a damn.  Another.”

“Bull.  She’s going to murder you,” the demon said as she poured him another drink, then grinned.  “I want to be there to watch.”

“I told you, she doesn’t care, Maze,” he snapped as he downed the new drink in an effort to kill the sorrow within him.  Tapping his glass against the bar, he ordered, “Another.”

“So your marriage is open now?  Huh.  Never expected Decker to be the sharing type.”  Maze poured him yet another shot.  “And what did you do to your arm?”

“It’s none of your concern.”

“Don’t give me that.  I’m supposed to protect you, remember?”  This time Maze poured herself a shot.  Lucifer snatched the glass out of her hand and downed it in one pull.  The demon merely lifted an eyebrow and poured another.  “Look, if you’re in some trouble, I’m here for you.”

“I’m perfectly capable of looking after myself, Maze.” 

“Yeah.  Right.”  Her critical eyes raked him up and down.  “Have you looked in the damned mirror lately?  You’ve got bruises all over your face, you haven’t shaved in days, and your clothes --”

“So I look like a wreck.  Bloody hell, Maze!  I’m the Devil -- I’m allowed to appear in whatever fashion I choose.”

“Sure.”  She signaled across the club to Amenadiel, who jogged up.

“What’s up, Maze?”

She pointed to her boss.  “Get your brother upstairs and slap some sense into him, will you?  He’s being a stubborn ass.”

The angel looked closely at Lucifer and, with brows furrowed, asked, “What in Father’s name have you done to yourself?”  He poked the broken arm, causing his brother to curse madly as he flinched away.

“Bloody hell, watch what you’re doing, you sod!”

Amenadiel ignored him.  “Luci, that arm is broken.  Why haven’t you gotten Chloe to look at it?”

“He says Decker doesn’t give a damn,” the demon told her boyfriend, whose eyes widened as he looked first at Maze, then back at Lucifer.

“Doesn’t care?!  What happened?”

“It’s none of your concern,” the fallen angel ground out through clenched teeth.  He was getting tired of people asking him what the hell had happened.

“Look, if you’re not going to let Chloe tend to it, then I’ll call Raphael --”

“By Hell, you will  _ not!” _ Lucifer shouted.

“What are you talking about?  You have to get that looked at!” the angel yelled back.

“Leave me alone!”

Their raised voices caught the attention of the patrons, who exchanged glances with each other nervously.  Many began to leave, while others stayed and watched, but gave them a wide berth.  Seeing the spectators caused a rush of anger to well up inside the fallen angel, and he yelled, “Get out!  Now -- all of you!  Out!”

The clubgoers ran at the booming sound of his furious voice, and in less than a minute, the club was empty.

“Oh good job there, boss -- scare all of our customers away,” Maze said sarcastically.

“Quiet, Maze.”  Lucifer tapped his glass on the bar once again.  “Another.”

“Look, I’m calling Raphael whether you like it or not,” his brother told him, which caused the fallen angel to turn to him in a rage, with eyes red hot and burning.

“Bloody hell, why can’t you leave me alone?!”

“Because you’re family and you’re hurt!”

Amenadiel’s shout stunned Lucifer into silence.  For a long moment he stood there, staring at his brother.  Family....  Bloody hell, just the sound of the word brought back to the surface all of the pain and agony welling up from his insides.  A drink.  He needed a drink -- desperately.  Turning back to the bar, he grabbed the bourbon off the counter and took a long swig straight from the bottle.

“No,” he said hoarsely after he had drained the entire bottle.  “Leave me alone.”

Amenadiel’s eyes narrowed.  “What happened between you and Chloe?”

Lucifer turned and lifted his chin defiantly.  “And what makes you think something happened between the detective and me?”

“Because you wouldn’t be acting like such an ass if it hadn’t, and she would have fixed your broken arm.”  For a long moment his brother studied the fallen angel with sharp, critical eyes.  Lucifer squirmed under his gaze and looked at his demon.

“Another bottle, Maze.”

Comprehension dawned on the angel’s face.  “You... you want your arm to stay broken.  It’s your punishment, isn’t it, for whatever happened between you two?”

The Devil paled at his brother’s keen insight.  With a hiss, he snatched a fistful of Amenadiel’s shirt and pulled his brother close with his good arm.  “Call Rafe and I will beat you straight into Hell, bloody broken arm or no.  Do you understand me, brother?”

The angel lifted his hands in an accommodating gesture.  “All right, Luci.  Calm down.”

“And tell that bloody prick not to come by this week to check on Chloe.”  Swallowing hard, he managed to get the words out of his mouth: “She’s no longer here.”

Amenadiel grimaced as comprehension dawned on his face.  “Aw, no, Luci....”

Lucifer cringed inwardly at the pity he heard in his brother’s voice.  Pushing past him, he headed for the elevator.  “Leave me alone,” he snapped over his shoulder.  “Just leave me alone!”

 

 

________________________________________

 

 

After the argument with Amenadiel and Maze, Lucifer went to his flat and threw himself upon his bed.  He didn’t even bother to get undressed.  Perhaps bed wasn’t the best place to be -- the memories of the joyful times he spent there with his wife were overwhelming -- but he didn’t want to go anywhere else.  Grabbing her pillow with his good hand and hugging it close, he buried his face in it.  It still held the fragrance of her favorite shampoo.  Closing his eyes, he could almost imagine she was still there....

He stayed like that all night.  And if a few tears happened to wet the pillow during that time, he didn’t acknowledge them.

Having succumbed to depression, he was still in bed, hugging her pillow, by the next afternoon.  He heard the soft ding of the elevator, but ignored it.  He really didn’t want to see anyone right now -- perhaps they would go away.  He rolled to his good side and kept his back to the world beyond the bedroom.

Soft footsteps approached, and then he felt a light tap on his arm.  It caused ripples of pain to shoot through his body, but he squeezed his eyes shut and ignored it.

“Lucifer,” a young, familiar voice said.

His eyes flew open.   _ Beatrice?! _  Turning faster in bed than he should have, he nearly screamed as a white hot knifing sensation speared through his arm and side.  Gritting his teeth, he looked at the little girl standing by his bedside, her eyes big and worried.  In an instant he sat up and grabbed the little girl in a tight, one-armed hug.

“Beatrice,” he whispered as he felt her arms go around his neck and hug him back.  He felt her tears, hot and wet, against his neck.

“I missed you,” she sobbed against him.  He just held her tighter.  She was the balm to the pain in his soul, and at last the agony he suffered eased a hair.

After a long moment, he finally released her and caught her eye.  “What are you doing here, child?”

“I wanted to see you so badly,” she sniffed as she dried her eyes with the back of her hand.  “I’m supposed to be playing with Amy Kendrick today, but I told her mom I wanted to go home.  I didn’t tell her I’m back at Nana’s... so she brought me here.”

A grin split the Devil’s face.  “Clever girl!” he crowed before giving her another hug.  A worrying thought occurred to him, and he broke the embrace.  “Does your mother know you’re here?”

Trixie shook her head.

Lucifer frowned.  That wasn’t good.  Chloe was sure to start fretting if her daughter didn’t get back home at the right time.  “Look, child, as much as I want you here with me, your mother needs you.”

“But... but I want to stay with you!  You... you don’t want me?” she cried, her eyes filling with tears again as her lower lip quivered.

“Of course I want you!  Don’t ever think that,” he said as he held her close.  “But you promised to take care of your mother, remember?  She needs you.”

“Don’t you need me, too?” the little girl asked sadly.  Her question tore at the Devil’s heart.

“More than you know, child.  More than you know,” Lucifer whispered to her, before taking a deep breath.  How he wanted Beatrice to stay with him!  A part of him begged,  _ just a little while.  Please, just for a little while...! _  But... he couldn’t do that to Chloe.  She came first.  She always came first.  “Your mother needs you more right now.  She’s going to have the baby, remember?  She’ll need you there to help her.”

Trixie pouted as she stood in front of him, then nodded once.  “Okay.  But I still miss you.”

“I miss you too, child.”

“What did you do to your arm?  It looks funny,” she asked, peering at his broken limb.  He shifted the injury away from her and pasted a smile on his face.

“Oh... nothing you need to worry about, child.  Don’t give it a second thought.”

Satisfied with his answer, she nodded to herself, then cocked her head at him.  “Will you be taking me to therapy this week?”

He sighed.  Oh, how he wished!  “No, child.  I’m... I’m going to skip this week, but I’m sure your mother will take you.”

“No.  I’m not going without you,” she said stubbornly as she crossed her arms in front of her chest and glared at him.

Bloody hell, her angry expression looked so much like Chloe that he winced, even as a part of him cheered at her tenacity in wanting to be with him.  “You have to.”

The little girl shook her head adamantly.  “No.  I don’t like that.  We go see Doctor Linda together, remember?”

“I know, child, but....  I can’t.”

“If I have to see her, then you do too,” she insisted.  “Otherwise I won’t go.”

Ah, so much like her mother!  It looked like Trixie wasn’t going to let him wallow in his sorrow.  He sighed, thinking that he’d have to get cleaned up before he saw Doctor Linda.  “Very well, then.  I’ll go see her, but we won’t be able to go together.  I’m sorry, child.”

“But if you’re going, why can’t we go together?” she whined.

Lucifer shook his head.  “I’m sorry, child.  We’ll have to go separately.”

“You sure you’ll go?” she asked with a suspicious glance.  “Because I’m not going if you’re not going.”

He sighed.  ‘Yes, I’ll go.”

“You promise?”

“I give you my word.”

Trixie nodded once, satisfied.  Taking his good hand in her little one, she pulled him to his feet, then looked up at the tall Devil with shining eyes.  “I love you, Lucifer.”

Her statement touched him deep in his core.  At least Beatrice still cared for him.  “And I, you, child.  Now let’s get you home.”

 


	10. Visit with Doctor Linda

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A very big thank you to my excellent beta, ScooterThyme! Thanks for all your hard work despite being so busy -- you are awesome!

 

 

“Hello, Doctor.  I need your advice.”

Doctor Linda Martin had been locking up her front door when Lucifer’s voice behind her startled her.  Whirling quickly, she struggled to catch her breath and let out a little laugh of nervousness, which tapered off as she studied him.  Despite the immaculate clothes he wore and his hair neatly combed back, something was definitely off.  He held his left arm tight against his body, which looked oddly bent, and his face was covered in bruises, but that wasn’t what worried her -- it was his eyes.  They were desolate.

“Come in,” she said as she unlocked her door and beckoned him inside.  As she set her purse down on her desk and took her normal seat, he slowly walked in.  “What happened, Lucifer?”

“What makes you think something happened?” he asked as he gingerly set himself down upon the couch and leaned back with a sigh.

“Because you look terrible.”  Her eyes narrowed as she asked, “What’s wrong with your arm?”

“What?  Oh.  It’s broken,” he said in a dead voice.

“Broken?!  Lucifer, you need to get that looked at --”

But he was already shaking his head.  “No.  It doesn’t bloody matter.”

Oh, this sounded bad.  “Why are you here?” she asked.

He stayed quiet for so long that she thought he wasn’t going to answer.  Finally, without looking at her, he said, “The detective has left me.”

“Left...?”  That caught Linda completely off-guard.  They had seemed so happy together....  “Can you tell me what happened?”

“Why?  It won’t bring the detective back,” he said, his eyes sad as he finally looked at her.

“I’d like to help you, Lucifer.”

“Oh.”  He sighed and said, “Very well.  If you insist.”

Which was an odd thing for him to say, Linda reflected, since he had been the one to come to her.  Cocking her head at him, she waited patiently for him to speak.

“We got into an argument,” he said so quietly that she almost didn’t hear him.  “Well, more like she yelled and I... I let her.”

“What did you argue about?”

“The... the baby.”

Her eyebrows rose.  “Is it because you are still having a hard time dealing with the fact that you are going to be a father?”

“No.  My... siblings are worried the baby’s going to be something it’s not.”

Linda’s eyebrows rose.  “But what do they have to do with the baby?”

“Nothing.  Everything.  They want me to... get rid of it, if it ends up being what everyone fears.”  Lucifer sat up then, his eyes dark and intense.  “But it’s not going to be what they think it is.  I know it.”

Linda stared at her client and tried to figure out Lucifer’s usual cryptic remarks.  It seemed his family thought the baby wasn’t his, so they wanted him to put it up for adoption when it was born...?  And it seemed that Lucifer was just as sure that it  _ was _ his...?

“Why should it matter to them what it is or isn’t, Lucifer?  The only people whom it should concern are you and Chloe.”

He laughed harshly.  “You would think so, wouldn’t you?  But no, my siblings consider it a matter of global importance.”  He fell quiet for a long time -- so long that she thought he was done with their session.  When he finally spoke, it was in a voice so soft that she almost didn’t catch what he was saying.

“Circumstances forced me into promising them that I would deal with it, if it was what they feared.”  Then, with a strong voice that shook with passion, he continued: “I would have never made that deal if there was any chance the baby was what they feared.  Never!  But I knew it wouldn’t be.  Nothing bad could ever come from the detective.”

He laughed bitterly as he ran his good hand through his hair.  “I thought it was the perfect deal.  They would leave my wife alone, and in exchange, I would promise to do something that would never happen.  A bloody perfect bargain, wouldn’t you say?”  He started laughing uproariously, but Linda could hear the derision behind it. When he finally stopped, his voice dropped in pitch as he said, “Little did I know they would go after her, anyway....”

The therapist’s eyebrows furrowed as she studied her client.  “You did discuss this with Chloe, though....”  At his silence, she felt a bad feeling run up her spine.  “Didn’t you?”

Lucifer’s dark eyes were filled with regret.  “No.  I... I didn’t want her to worry.”

“Lucifer, I understand your need to protect your wife from bad news, but don’t you think that this was something you should have discussed with her?  Putting a child up for adoption is a big deal.”

“Adoption.”  He snorted.  “If only it were that simple.  Look, what’s the point in worrying the detective over nothing?” he asked defensively.  “I know it’s not what they fear -- I know it!”

“Have you done tests to find out if it’s what everyone thinks it is?”

“They have been, so far, inconclusive.”

“Then how do you know it’s not what everyone thinks it is?”

“I just... know,” he said lamely.

She sighed.  “So you never told Chloe about this... deal?”

He shook his head.  “But she found out about it.  My brother told her.”

That shocked Linda.  “Amenadiel?”

“No... not Amenadiel.  Another brother.  I have many.”  Rubbing his hand over his face, he said, “When she found out, the detective grew angry... and left.”

“Did you explain the whole situation?  The circumstances that forced you to agree to their demands?”

“I tried.  Bloody hell, I couldn’t get a word in edgewise.  That bloody bastard brother of mine kept preventing me from telling her.”  With an angry movement, he leaned back against the couch and tilted his head toward the ceiling.  “Not that she’d believe me anyway.  I thought she knew me, but she’s just like all the rest,” he said in a bitter voice.  “She thinks I’m the Devil... Evil Incarnate.”

Linda sighed.  “You’ve given up on her, haven’t you?”

That brought his head up.  “What?”

“After all you’ve been through, the first chance you get, you start thinking that she’s just like the rest -- that she thinks you’re the Devil.”

“But I  _ am _ \--”

“The Devil.”  Sometimes she really got sick of all of his metaphors.  “Look, Lucifer, it seems to me that fear has been driving your every action.”

“Fear?”

“Yes, fear.”

He sputtered, then laughed like his old self.  “T-that’s ridiculous, Doctor.  The Devil is afraid of nothing!”

“I wish that were the case, but the evidence indicates otherwise.”  Adjusting her glasses, she studied him closely.  “You’re afraid of losing Chloe’s love, but you’re also afraid to trust her, so instead of working this problem out like two married adults, you just don’t tell her.  As soon as you get into an argument, you give up on her, assuming that she hates you.  Why is that?”

She looked at him intensely, but he avoided her eyes, instead glancing at the ceiling, then at the walls around him -- anywhere but her.  Linda took a deep breath and continued: “I believe it has to do with this Devil persona you keep insisting upon.  Deep down, you don’t believe that you are deserving of happiness.  You have a lovely wife, a wonderful marriage, a baby on the way, and a beautiful stepdaughter.  But all you can think of is that Chloe will end up hating you.  That’s why you didn’t tell her about the deal in the first place, and why you didn’t discuss it with her later in order to come up with a feasible solution together.  You’re afraid to love, to trust.  You’re just... afraid.”

Lucifer just looked at her with wide eyes and a shell-shocked expression, before he managed a shaky laugh.  “No.”

“Lucifer --”

“No!  You’re wrong, Doctor -- I’m not afraid of bloody anything!” he cried angrily.

Linda only looked at him quietly.  “Think about it.”

They stared at each other for a long moment before the anger left his body and his shoulders slumped.  “Bloody hell....” he whispered as realization crept over his face.

“I understand you had a rough childhood growing up, and that you feel that your entire family hates you.  But Lucifer, you are not the Devil just because they say you are.”

“But I  _ am _ the Devil --”

“No, Lucifer,” Linda said with a shake of her head.  “You are  _ you. _  Special.  Unique.  And you are just as entitled to happiness as anyone else.”

“But I do believe I have been happy,” the tall man said with a frown.  “After all, the sex has been amazing --”

“Sex is not happiness.”

Lucifer looked horrified at her statement.  “I beg to differ, Doctor!”

“So if you had sex with some random woman on the street right now, would you be happy?”

“No.”  The word came instantly came to his lips, without hesitation.  “The only one I want to have sex with is Chloe.”  Brightening, he added, “But I have been happy in my marriage....”

Linda shook her head.  “No, I think you’ve been waiting for the other shoe to drop.  When did you make this deal with your family?”

“Four... four months ago.”

“And you’ve been living in fear ever since.  That’s not happiness, Lucifer.  That’s anxiety.”  She leaned back in her chair.  “You knew the promise to your siblings would cause problems.  You could have discussed it with Chloe, but didn’t.  You had happiness right in your grasp but you let it slip through your fingers, because you think you don’t deserve it.  You’re so afraid of being happy that you would rather stay safely ensconced in your Devil persona.  

“Look, the issue with Chloe isn’t that she’s angry with you.  The real issue is trust.  You need to learn to trust Chloe --”

“She doesn’t trust me.”

“She would if you’d let her, but she can’t... because you don’t trust her.”

He gaped at her.  “I don’t?  Surely you’re mistaken --”

“If you did, you would have told her about this deal with your family, so that you could deal with it together.  Trust and communication are key in a marriage, Lucifer.  Without those, you have nothing.  You have to communicate with each other --

“Oh we do -- in bed!” he interrupted with a wicked grin, finally showing a flash of his old self.  “If you can call sex communicating....”

Linda rolled her eyes.  “I mean talk to each other, Lucifer.  Really talk.  Have a heart-to-heart.  Trust her... and allow yourself be happy -- you deserve it, just like everyone else.  You are a good person.  You work hard, you provide for your family, you do everything you can to keep them safe.  Look deep inside yourself, Lucifer.  Why do you think you don’t deserve happiness?”

Lucifer just stared at her.  “I... I....”  He looked down.  “I’ve been manipulated into doing many bad things.  My family thinks I’m evil.”

“But you aren’t... so why do  _ you _ think that you are?”

He gazed at her in stunned silence.

“You have to throw away this Devil persona once and for all, Lucifer.  It’s not who you are.  Throw it away and free yourself.”  Straightening and putting her pad down, Linda said, “In the meantime, give Chloe a little breathing room.  Let her calm down.  Once she’s calmed down, you can talk to her and explain about this deal you made with your family.  I’m sure you’ll be able to come to some sort of resolution... and if you need a mediator, bring her here.  I’ll be happy to talk to you both.”

Her client thought hard, and for the first time since walking in that night, he looked... relieved.  It wasn’t much, but it was far more of an improvement than the depressed man he had been earlier.  “You’re right, Doctor!  I  _ should _ go see her!  I should get this whole matter cleared up as soon as possible.  I’ll go right now --”

Oh god.  “No, Lucifer!  Let her calm down first --”

But he was already pulling himself to his feet.  “Thank you so much!  You’re first class all the way!”

What the hell had just happened?  As Linda watched her client leave, she hollered after him, “At least get that arm looked at!”

He merely waved her off as he left.  Linda hung her head and rubbed her forehead in agitation.  Why did their sessions always end like this...?

 


	11. Trying to See Chloe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A very big thank you to my excellent beta, ScooterThyme! You rock!

 

 

Lucifer reached the beach house in no time, and pulled up into the driveway.  Doctor Linda had given him something he had been missing in the last few days -- hope.  It filled him like water pouring into an empty glass, rushing through every bone in his body and lifting his spirits.  Somehow he’d have to make Chloe listen to the whole truth about the deal.  Surely she would understand, then?

As he hopped out of his car, he noticed a figure standing across the road.  Cocking his head, he narrowed his eyes as he studied the man in the darkness.  No, not a man.  An angel.  With a glance up and down the street, Lucifer checked for any humans about, but it was late -- there was no one.  With a nod to himself, he walked over to the figure with determined strides.

As he got closer, he recognized his brother, Karael, dressed in a suit like a human.  The blonde angel was built like a truck, all muscle and power, which put Lucifer on edge.  The Devil could have taken him easily had he been uninjured, but with his broken arm and ribs, he was a definite disadvantage.  Pulling his arm closer to his side, he stopped in front of his sibling.

“Bloody hell, what are you doing here?” Lucifer snapped.

The angel cocked his head at his fallen brother and smiled slightly.  “Thought I’d see you here.”

“Did Orph send you to spy on the detective, like the dog you are?”

Karael laughed as his eyes took in Lucifer’s bruised face and the arm he was favoring.  “Careful, Luci.  Careful.  Orphiel told me how weak Earth has made you.  You wouldn’t want more injuries, would you?”

The fallen angel’s good arm shot out like a snake, gripping his brother’s shirt in a tight fist.  Lucifer let his eyes burn red as he stared deep into the other man’s eyes.  “Don’t test me, Karael.  You’ll regret it.”

With a smirk, Karael’s fist shot out and punched Lucifer in his broken arm.  The Devil grunted as white hot pain lanced through his body, and he almost lost his grip on his brother’s shirt -- almost.  Quickly recovering, he lifted his brother and slammed him into the sidewalk.  The concrete under the angel broke and heaved out of the ground at the impact.  Karael blinked, then smiled.

In a flash the blonde angel leaped to his feet and punched Lucifer in the jaw, sending him flying.  He tumbled across a well-trimmed lawn before managing to stop himself.  As the Devil pulled himself to his feet, Karael dashed up and kicked him hard in the ribs.  Lucifer gasped as an explosion of pain filled his insides, rendering him helpless.  His brother picked him up and slammed him into the ground.  

For a moment Lucifer just lay there as he tried to catch his breath.  He couldn’t think, couldn’t move.  Squeezing his eyes shut, he told himself over and over that there was no pain.  He could hear the sound of rustling material as Karael bent down close to him.

“You’re so weak, Luci.  I never thought I’d ever see the day when I would be standing over your broken body.”  He chuckled.  “I was worried before, but now I can’t wait for word to come down from upstairs.  Killing the Nephilim and your Old God will be so easy....”

Rage filled the fallen angel, burning away all of the agony in his injuries and giving him strength.  His fist shot out and caught Karael in the jaw, knocking him down.  Lucifer leapt to his feet and threw himself on his brother, punching his opponent for all he was worth as he took his anger against Orphiel out on him.

“Leave my family alone!” he yelled, punctuating each word with a blow.  Karael struggled against him, finally landing a blow to the Devil’s face and knocking him away.  The two men grappled on the lawn, rolling and wrestling madly like two snakes entwined in a fierce battle for control.  At last, Lucifer landed a hard punch to Karael’s head, knocking the angel momentarily senseless.  

With a grunt, the Devil shakily rose to his feet and pulled his brother to him.  

“Tell Orphiel to stick to the bloody deal and leave us alone!” he raged, before throwing his brother into some nearby bushes.  He watched as the angel struggled out of the branches and tottered to his feet. 

“You’ll be sorry for this, Luci,” Karael spat before spreading his wings in a rending of material and launching himself into the sky.

“Prick!” Lucifer yelled, then collapsed on the cool grass as his legs went out from under him.  Oh, bloody hell, he hurt so badly, he couldn’t even think... but he had to see Chloe.  That was first and foremost in his mind.  He had to explain, make her understand about the deal.  He had to make her see that he had never promised to kill the baby.  Deal with it somehow, yes, if it was what everyone feared, but he would never kill it.  He had to make that clear to her.  He desperately wanted his wife back.  His family back.  He wanted to be happy.

Somehow he got to his feet, swaying like a drunken man, and tried to straighten his clothes as best he could with his one good hand.  Bloody hell, he looked like a mess -- definitely not how he wanted to see his wife -- but it would have to do.  Running a hand over his hair to smooth it down, he started walking across the street toward the beach house.

 

 

________________________________________

 

 

“Honestly, I can’t imagine what Trixie was thinking.  Going to visit your deadbeat husband by herself?” Penelope complained to her daughter.  She had been shocked when Trixie came home from school, crowing about how she had gone to see Lucifer.  A part of her was surprised that the womanizer hadn’t kidnapped her little granddaughter to use her as leverage against Chloe.

“Mom, please....” the younger woman said, propping her elbows against the dining table and rubbing her temples.

Penelope studied her daughter sitting across from her with pitying eyes.  Honestly, she couldn’t figure out why Chloe had such bad luck with men.  If only she had been able to work things out with Dan!  Penelope was convinced that her ex-husband had been a good man.  After all, he had been so caring after the car accident that had almost taken Choe’s life....

“Well, it’s a good thing you left him,” she said as she turned away with a disdainful sniff.

“Actually Mom, I’ve been thinking....” her daughter said, which had Penelope’s eyes snapping back to Chloe.

Dread filled her heart at the younger woman’s words.  “What’s that, pumpkin?”

“Something just doesn’t make sense.  I still can’t believe... well, Lucifer’s been so good to me, and to Trixie.  I mean, he brought her back home, safe and sound!”  She sighed heavily, thinking for a moment before continuing.  “I just think that there’s been some mistake.  Some miscommunication somewhere.  I didn’t give him a chance to defend himself -- I think I just jumped to conclusions because of Palmetto, and my past experience with Dan.  Maybe I should go back and see him -- you know, try to work this all out.  After all, we made a baby....”

Penelope’s heart dropped to the floor.  Oh no.  No, no, no....  “Look, Chloe, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she said, using all of her acting skills to mask the worry she felt at her daughter’s statement.  “It sounds to me like he’s the one in the wrong.  Isn’t that right?”

Chloe looked uneasy.  “Well, he  _ did _ say some things that were... well....”

“Then  _ he _ should be the one to come and apologize.  You shouldn’t go to him and beg to be taken back.”

“I wouldn’t be!  I just think --” her daughter protested, but Penelope ruthlessly cut her off.

“Lucifer will think you’re begging to be taken back.  It’s a position of weakness, pumpkin.  And yes,” she said with a dramatic sigh, “I know I haven’t been the best of mothers, but your father raised you to be strong.  You have that Decker strength.  Don’t go squandering it.”

Penelope watched her daughter chew her bottom lip anxiously before nodding.  “Perhaps you’re right.  I’ll wait a bit... see if he comes by.  If he doesn’t come in a week, then I’ll go to him, when we’re both more level-headed.”

Just then Trixie came rounding the corner in her pajamas.  “Mommy! I’m ready for bed!  Story time!”

“No story night -- tomorrow’s a school day -- but I’ll tuck you in!” Chloe called back, then smiled at her mother.  “I’ll talk to you later.”

Penelope watched her daughter walk into the spare bedroom and close the door before she wandered to the living room and turned on the television.  With a sigh, she started flipping channels, not even caring what was flashing before her eyes.  Instead she kept thinking of how terrible Lucifer had been to her daughter.  If it hadn’t been for that womanizer, Chloe would not be pregnant and alone.  Oh, sure, he was good looking and had lots of money, but what good was that if he was an awful human being?  Her brow creased with worry for her poor daughter, who looked more worn out than she had ever seen her.  It was all that Lucifer’s fault....

A knock on the door startled Penelope.  Who could it be so late at night?  Cautiously she went to the entry and turned on the porch light.  Looking through the peephole, she was surprised to see her daughter’s husband on her doorstep.  Very quietly she opened the door and studied him.  Lucifer looked like death warmed over -- his clothes were disheveled, his hair was askew, and his face was battered and bloodied -- but his eyes were full of hope.

“Hello, Penelope.”  Lucifer tried to see past the blonde woman.  “I’d like to speak with Chloe, if I may.”

The older woman placed a firm hand against his chest and pushed him out of her doorway, back onto the porch.  Closing the door behind her, she said, “She doesn’t want to see you.”

Having expected that reaction, the tall man swallowed hard and straightened with determination.  “I know she doesn’t, but please.  It’s of the utmost importance that I speak with her.  Please.”

Penelope shook her head.  “My daughter is through with you.  You hurt her for the last time, Lucifer.  Give me one good reason why I should let her see you.”

“I... I love her,” he said simply.

Her eyes narrowed.  He seemed sincere, but when had Lucifer ever done anything for her daughter except cause her misery?  No.  She was going to protect her baby.  Shaking her head, Penelope said, “I’ve heard that one before.  No.  My daughter no longer loves you, Lucifer.  She told me she hates you.  You destroyed her life, and she will never forgive you for it.  She wants a divorce.”

She watched with satisfaction as the blood rushed out of his face, leaving him as white as snow.  He squeezed his eyes shut tightly and bit his lower lip until it bled, then shook his head in denial.  “No.  No, you must be mistaken.”

“I’m not mistaken.”  Seeing how shaken he was, Penelope decided that this was as good a time as any to defend her little girl.  “When have you ever done anything good for my daughter?  You fought with her when she’s so close to delivery -- she could have gone into premature labor, you idiot!  What if something had happened to her?

“Before that, you left her in the lurch for two months, leaving her wondering how she was ever going to be able to support herself, Trixie, and the baby you impregnated her with!  And then you came sauntering back in without even a by-your-leave and slid right back into her life.  Do you think those were the actions of a man who loves her?”

“I... I....”  His eyes had lost that glow of hope.  They were bleak, now.  Good, Penelope thought with a nod of her head, and continued her diatribe.

“And of course there was that time you left Trixie with your bartender, of all people, and her boyfriend.  How dare you put my granddaughter in harm’s way!  You should be arrested for that.  If anyone should be in jail, it should be  _ you, _ not Dan.”  Penelope’s voice grew stronger as she warmed up to her subject.  “If it wasn’t for you, Chloe would have never gotten into that car accident last year.  Am I right?”

Lucifer opened his mouth, but shut it again.  Penelope wasn’t surprised to see the guilt written all over his face.

“Chloe would have been far better off if she had stayed with Dan.  He was a good man, at least -- he really cared for Chloe and Trixie.  All you’ve done is make my daughter miserable... and she’s finally seen the light.  You’re trouble, and Chloe has finally wiped her hands of you.  Go back to your club and your women.  Leave my daughter alone.  She hates you now, and certainly doesn’t ever want to see you again.”

For a moment Lucifer looked like a broken man, before he suddenly straightened.  Lifting his chin, he said harshly, “You needn’t worry, Penelope.  I’ll never bother your daughter again.”  Turning on his heel, he swiftly walked away without a backward glance.

Penelope watched Lucifer stride away and felt a twinge of guilt for being so brutal, but it had to be done.  Now her daughter was free to finally find a good man to spend the rest of her life with... one who could hopefully help with that womanizer’s baby.  Nodding to herself, she let herself back into the house.

As she locked the front door, Chloe called out from behind her, “You were outside?”

Started, Penelope jumped, and turned to see her daughter standing by Trixie’s door in her old nightshirt.  Laughing nervously, she told Chloe, “Yes.  One of the neighbors was looking for a lost cat.  I told him I hadn’t seen it.  You already tucked in Trixie?”

Her daughter chuckled as she came closer.  “I stayed with her until she fell asleep, which wasn’t too long.  I think her little adventure really tuckered her out.  I’m going to bed now, myself.”

“Okay, pumpkin!  And remember... stay strong.”

Penelope offered her cheek to her daughter for a kiss before watching Chloe return to the spare bedroom where Trixie was.  Well, that certainly had been close!  But her daughter didn’t seem to suspect anything.  The older woman preened at the thought of still having her fantastic acting skills, and at having done something to help protect her daughter, at last.  Making herself comfortable on the couch, she started watching television in earnest.

 

 

________________________________________

 

 

Lucifer stood outside the beach house, staring up at the moon, but seeing nothing.

Penelope’s words rang over and over in his head, stabbing his insides and cutting his heart out of his chest.  He couldn’t get over it.  Chloe hated him...  _ hated him! _  And with good reason, too.  There was truth in Penelope’s words.  He had been nothing but trouble for the detective since the day they had met.  Dizziness assailed him, and for a moment he thought he was going to fall over... but he quickly righted himself and managed to get himself behind the driver’s seat of his Corvette.  He probably shouldn’t drive in the shaky condition he was in, but... what did it matter?

It was over.  It had been a nice dream, while it lasted.

_ You were wrong, Doctor,  _ he thought desolately as he started the engine and backed out of the driveway. _  The Devil doesn’t deserve to be happy. _

 


	12. Asking a Favor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A very big thank you to my excellent beta, ScooterThyme! You rock!

 

 

Lucifer hunched over in the rental car, determined not to be seen by Chloe as she loaded Trixie into her car.  Although he desperately wanted to return to his hedonistic ways and drink himself into oblivion, he couldn’t.  The fear that Karael or Orphiel might attack his wife drove him to keep watch over her.

After he had left Penelope’s house two nights prior, he had drunk as much as he could in an hour -- he had to give himself at least that much.  Fortification, he had told himself.  Then he called in a favor and rented a nondescript, dark grey Toyota Camry that he hoped would blend in with the scenery and be... well, invisible.  Bloody hell, he had been on enough stakeouts with the detective -- he should be able to do this!

While he kept watch, he didn’t eat or sleep.  He didn’t really need either -- he was the Devil and immortal -- but he did miss them.  Memories of the food that he and his wife had shared on various stakeouts assailed him -- mostly coffee, sometimes a danish, and once some really disgusting tacos off of a food truck.  That brought a smile to his face.  After that he had told her in no uncertain terms that they would only eat catered food at a stakeout, which had made Chloe snort with derision and accuse him of being a snob.  The familiar pain of loss began to throb in his chest; rubbing it absently, he returned his attention on his wife, now starting the car.

Bloody hell, she shouldn’t have to be driving, this close to the due date!  He should be taking the little spawn to school, not her.  Bitter regret filled him, but he pushed it away angrily.  There wasn’t any time for that.  As she pulled out into the street, he did as well, following far enough back that she wouldn’t notice.

Seeing her safely to school and back, he made himself comfortable in the car as he watched her re-enter the beach house.  The small glimpses he had of her were extremely painful, but they helped keep the heartbreak at bay.  Without Chloe as his light, there was nothing to push back the emptiness of his soul that threatened to swallow him completely.  Squeezing his eyes shut, he tried to force back the despair that grew exponentially every day.

A knock on the window startled him, causing him to jump in his seat.  His eyes flew open.  Had she discovered him?!  He had been so careful --

A face leaned down to the window.  Orphiel.

Bloody hell.

Rolling down the window, Lucifer peered up at his brother.  “What do you want?”

The angel placed his hand on the car door frame and leaned in, thrusting his face close to his fallen brother’s.  “I want Ansiel back.”

“Leave my wife alone, and you’ll have him.”

A scowl marred Orphiel’s angelic features.  “Damn you, Luci.  Give him back!”

The Devil lifted his chin and glared at his brother with eyes that were as hard as raw diamonds.  “Leave my wife and child alone and I will.”

He watched his brother sputter furiously before finally nodding.  “Fine.  Fine, you ass.  Meet me tomorrow... here, and I’ll leave your wife alone.”

“You won’t attack her in the meantime?” he asked, his eyes narrow and suspicious.

Orphiel shook his head.  “No.  I can keep my word, even if you can’t.”

That made Lucifer spit out a contemptuous laugh.  “You’ve never kept your bloody word... but very well.  Not here, though. There are too many humans about.”

That made his brother lift his eyebrows.  “So what if there are humans about?”

“I prefer we do our business in private.”

The angel snorted contemptuously.  “Fine, Luci.  Fine.”

“Meet me at noon near Wildcat Gulch in the Angeles National Forest, where my wife saved our father’s life -- if you can remember that far back,” the Devil snarled.

Orphiel nodded.  “Done.  See you tomorrow.”

Lucifer watched the angel spread his big wings and take off for home, before he started the car and pulled out into the street.  Now he had the other problem to deal with....

 

 

________________________________________

 

 

It took him all night, but by very early morning Lucifer finally came up with what he hoped was a feasible solution to Ansiel that would please Weaver and the other Old Gods.  He hoped his plan would work; he just had to lay the groundwork now to make sure everything would go as smoothly as possible.

One quick phone call to Amenadiel set everything in motion.  He had caught the angel in quite a compromising situation with his demon, and even over the phone he could tell that his brother was having a hard time with Maze.  The call filled him briefly with amusement -- something of which he was in dire need.  His soul was fast becoming a veritable wasteland, barren of everything, save sorrow.  The thought of Chloe’s hatred for him and her desire for divorce had stripped him to the bone, leaving him bleeding and raw on the inside.  In the dark hours of the night, he had finally come to terms with her wishes.  He could only see one solution to make amends for ruining her life -- and he aimed to take it.

Stepping into the shower, he stood under the spray, letting the hot water beat down on him like a summer rainstorm.  He tried his best to clean himself up with one hand -- not the easiest thing in the world.  Bloody hell, the broken arm seemed worse.  He now had hardly any mobility, and when he did try to move it, the pain was so intense that he felt like he was going to pass out.  It was worrisome, but he didn’t complain.  This was his punishment, and he gladly took it on.

Once out of the shower, he toweled himself off, shaved as best as he could, and combed his hair neatly so that he looked like his old, debonair self.  Getting dressed was a little harder -- his boxer shorts and pants didn’t want to cooperate, but he managed.  The shirt stayed off as he shook out his large, white wings.

Just then, he heard a soft, female voice call out from the balcony: “Lucifer?”

Ah!  Sachiel had arrived, and just in time!  He strode out of the bedroom to meet her.  “Sachi, thanks for coming.  Well don’t just stand there, come in!”

“Amenadiel said you wanted to see me?” she asked as she took hesitant steps into the living room.

“Yes,” he said as he grabbed the sling off of the bar counter and held it out to her.  “Can you help me with this?”

The black-haired angel’s eyebrows went up with surprise, but her face was as impassive as ever as she took the bandage.  “You want me to help you dress?”

“No!  Yes!  Well, somewhat.  Just... put that on me.”  Lucifer pointed to the sling, then to his broken arm, hanging uselessly his side.

Sachiel stared at his misshapen arm, then said with concern, “Why haven’t you gotten Chloe to fix that?”

He shook his head.  “It isn’t important.”

“Well, if she isn’t going to fix that, then we need to call Raphael --”

“That won’t be necessary,” the Devil said firmly.  “Just... help me.”

Her face pale, the angel nodded then touched his arm.  The very light pressure caused him to hiss, but when she paused, he just indicated for her to continue.  With gentle hands she bent the broken arm and placed it in the sling, then attached the material around Lucifer’s neck.  Sweat poured off the Devil’s brow as he struggled not to start screaming uncontrollably.  Bloody hell, the wretched fire burning throughout his arm and radiating into his side was almost as bad as plunging his arm into one of the forges of Hell!

Once his arm was in place, he nodded to his sister and pointed to a roll of bandages he had bought the previous afternoon.  “I need you to pin my bloody arm to my chest so that it doesn’t move,” he said.

“Lucifer, what is going on?” she asked as she took the bandages from him.

He smiled grimly as he lifted his white wings so that they would be out of the way of the bindings.  “Just taking precautions, my dear.  Hopefully not necessary, but... I have to be ready.”

“Ready for what?”

“Anything.”

Once his arm was strapped tightly and immobile, he took Sachiel’s hand in his good one and gave it a squeeze.  “Thank you.”

“You didn’t call me here just to help you with that,” she said quietly as she studied his face.

Lucifer took a deep breath.  It hurt his broken ribs, but being bound up along with his arm, it wasn’t as bothersome as it could have been.  Now came the hard part.  “No, I didn’t.  I... I need your help.”

Sachiel stared at him wordlessly.  Was that a good sign? wondered Lucifer.  It was so hard to get a read on her thoughts, since she was so bloody emotionless all the time.  He squeezed her hand again and spoke.

“I... I took Ansiel to Shotou -- the Old God’s plane.”

Shock registered on the angel’s face, the first full emotion she showed since arriving.  “You did what?!”

“Right.  It was... unavoidable.”

“Unavoidable?!”

“Yes!” Lucifer snapped.

She shook her head as the blood drained from her face.   Pulling her hand from his grasp, the angel started pacing.  “No, Lucifer.  Please tell me you didn’t really take him to....”

His silence was her answer.

“You couldn’t take him somewhere else?”

“Right.  And where would I take him where he wouldn’t be found?” he bit off sarcastically.  “You know bloody well how we can sense each other when on the same plane, unless there are wards -- and I don’t have any!”

“I know, but... don’t you see?  You’ve just put all the Old Gods in danger, now that Ansiel knows where they are.”  And then she yelled, angrier than he had ever seen her, “He’ll kill Healing!”

It took him off-guard, that white hot passion that erupted from his quiet sister.  He had never suspected her of feeling... well, anything.  It surprised him to learn that she had such strong sentiments about his brother-in-law.  She must really like him, he reflected.  “Sachi --”

“You don’t know how he was during the Expulsion,” Sachiel cried.  “You weren’t there!  He was... brutal.  Relentless.  He’ll kill them all!  What were you thinking?!”

As the consequences of his actions seeped into his head, a horrible heat crept into his face.  His insides started to feel more hollow than they already were.  “Bloody hell, I... I was desperate.”

“How could you?!” she raged.

“Don’t you understand?  He was going to kill my wife!” Lucifer shouted back.  They both stared at each other for a long moment before he took a deep breath.  Yelling at Sachiel wasn’t going to gain him her assistance.  “Right,” he said tightly.  “What’s been done cannot be undone.  He’s there.”

The angel turned away, and her fallen brother saw her shoulders shake with emotion.  “You don’t know what he did.  The things I saw during that time....”

“I know,” Lucifer soothed as he placed his hand on her shoulder.  “I bloody well know what he did.  That’s why I need your help.”

As she turned back to stare at him, he saw her eyes fill with worry and fear.  “What must I do?”

“I need you to wipe out his memories of that plane.”

She froze at his words, like a deer in the headlights... motionless.  Then, slowly, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.  When she opened them again, they were filled with resolve.  “Healing saved my life twice.  I’m not going to let him get killed,” she said firmly.  “I will do it... but Ansiel won’t like it.”

Lucifer released the breath he hadn’t known he had been holding.  His whole plan had hinged on her agreement to do as he asked.  “Leave that bloody prick to me.”

She nodded.  “Very well.  Shall we go?”

“In a moment.”  He went into the bedroom and fetched War’s gift -- his sword.  Tucking it securely into his belt, he nodded.  “Let’s go.”

They walked to the balcony, where Lucifer opened his wings and took off into the sky, with his sister following close behind.

 


	13. Fetching Ansiel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A very big thank you to my wonderful beta, ScooterThyme! Thanks for taking a look at this -- you rock!

 

 

Upon reaching the Old Gods’ village, Lucifer headed to Healing’s house, with Sachiel in tow.  With the emotional climate the way it was, he figured having an ally in his corner would definitely help.  Striding over to the front door of the healer’s wooden house, he knocked loudly and shifted from foot to foot with ill-concealed impatience.  

“Bloody hell, Healing, where are you?” he muttered to himself as a number of long minutes passed.  He felt his sister tap him on his shoulder, and turned.

Sachiel was looking at the position of the sun, still somewhat low on the horizon, but climbing.  “He’s probably out back, in the garden.”

Lucifer cocked his head at her inquisitively.  “Really?  How do you know?”

A light blush stole onto her cheeks as she looked at her brother.  “I stayed with him for two months, remember?  We would often work in the garden until midmorning.”

“Right.  Bloody hell, why didn’t you say so in the first place?”  Lucifer followed Sachiel around to the back of the house until they reached the small field nestled behind the structure.  Sure enough, Healing was there, kneeling on the ground and harvesting his vegetables.  Lucifer waved as he called out.  “Healing!”

The god straightened, staring at the pair of them for a moment, before working his way over to them.  Surprise was written all over his face as he took in his guests, but instead of greeting them, the first thing out of his mouth was, “Sun and Moon, Angel!  What happened to you?”

Lucifer angled his damaged arm away from Healing and shook his head.  “Nothing for you to be concerned about.”

“You’re wrong -- your suffering is screaming so loud I can hear it across the fields!” the god cried, then eyed the sling wrapped tight against the Devil’s chest.  “What did you do to yourself?  Why hasn’t Compassion helped you?”

The fallen angel felt heat rushing into his face, but he lifted his chin defiantly.  Bloody hell, he forgot how Healing could sense another’s suffering.  As best he could, Lucifer pushed his feelings of depression and hopelessness deep within himself, in an effort to hide it from his brother-in-law.  “It doesn’t matter.  I’m perfectly able to function as is.”

“Let me heal you, and then we really need sit down and talk --”

“There isn’t time!” Lucifer snapped.  “We have to fetch my brother.”

But Healing was not to be dissuaded.  “Lucifer, I’m not going to have you running around when you’re in screaming mental and physical pain --”

“Bloody hell, I told you -- it’s nothing to be concerned about!” the fallen angel repeated furiously.

“He has a broken arm and insists on having no aid,” Sachiel said quietly, which earned her a glare from her brother.  “Lucifer is very stubborn.  It’s no use arguing with him.”

Distracted by the sound of her soft voice, Healing’s gaze slid reluctantly over to Sachiel.  Lucifer was amused to see a slight blush tint his cheeks.  “Sachi.  I missed -- I... It’s been a while.  How have you been?”

“I’m fine,” she said, her eyes falling to her feet.  Knowing that the pair liked each other, Lucifer waited to see what would happen, expecting an explosion of passion or sex or...something!  But disappointingly, nothing happened.  When the pair just continued standing there awkwardly, casting shy glances at each other, the fallen angel let out a huge sigh.  It looked like those two would need a little friendly nudge at some point, but now was not the time.

“Bloody hell,” he groaned sotto voce before facing the pair.  “Right.  We’ll have time for this later.  Healing, I need to see my brother. Is Ansiel still... alive?”

The god shot him a glance.  “Yes, but not happy, I can tell you that much.”

“Well, we’re here to fetch the bloody sod.  Can you take us to him?”

“Fetch...?  Weaver’s not going to like that,” Healing muttered as he dusted off the dirt from the knees of his trousers and tried to make himself look presentable.

“I’ll talk to her,” Lucifer said.  “She’ll understand.”   _I hope...._

 

 

________________________________________

 

 

When they reached the clearing where Ansiel was, Lucifer was surprised to see his brother yelling epithets at everyone who happened by.  He was still chained to the large camphor tree, but his robes were heavily stained and a very large pile of rotten fruit lay at his feet.

“I’ll kill you all!” the angel yelled.  “I won’t be chained up here forever, and when I’m free, you’ll all die!”

“Ansiel,” Lucifer said sharply as he walked up to his brother.

The angel turned to him, his angry face suddenly easing with relief.  “Lucifer!  You’re here to free me, aren’t you? And not a moment too soon.  I’m going to kill all of these stupid gods.”  His expression once again hardened with rage.  “They dare to disrespect me -- Me!  Don’t they know who I am?  I’ll come back with an army and kill them all --”

“Silence!” the Devil roared.  “Bloody hell, get a hold of yourself, man!”

For a moment Ansiel was cowed into silence.  Then, with fear creeping into his voice, he asked, “You _are_ going to free me, aren’t you?”

Lucifer didn’t answer.  Instead he strode over to War, who was leaning against a rock and watching with interest as he ate a piece of fruit.  The armored giant straightened at the fallen angel’s approach and grinned.  

“Hello, Angel!  Back again, I see.”  He eyed Lucifer’s bound arm with interest.  “What did you do to yourself?  Are you trying to win sympathy so that I’d go easy on you when next we spar?”

“Bloody hell, War, you’re almost as much of an arse as Hal -- Storm -- is,” Lucifer said with an answering smile, then glanced at his arm.  “Right.  This... this is nothing to be concerned with.”

War’s eyebrows shot up, but he said nothing.  As he glanced behind Lucifer and saw Sachiel, a look of dismay crossed his face.  “Aww, Angel, you didn’t bring _her,_ did you?  Are you _trying_ to destroy Healing?”

Lucifer followed War’s gaze to see angel and god talking quietly to each other.  Even at a distance, he could see the awkwardness between them.  Bloody hell, did they not know that each liked the other?!

“Right.  I didn’t bring her here for Healing, although it would be nice to see those two have some sex --”

War shot him a dark look.  “Don’t play with other people’s feelings, Angel -- especially Healing’s,” the giant warned in a low voice.

Lucifer looked hard at his friend.  “Bloody hell, I’m not playing!  What is the problem with those two having sex?”

“We need a healer, not a depressed mess of a god.  There are things you don’t understand, Angel.”

“Then enlighten me!” Lucifer snapped, then got a hold of himself.  “But... later.  Right now, I need to see Weaver.”

“I’ll get her for you.”  And with that, the war god threw the core of his finished fruit at Ansiel, hitting him square in the forehead, before trotting off into the village.

In a matter of minutes the god had returned, with the middle-aged goddess following.  Weaver, dressed in black robes, still looked stressed and bitter; Lucifer supposed that she would never feel better until Ansiel was taken care of.

“Angel,” she greeted with a sharp nod of her head before her gaze went to Lucifer’s brother, bound to the tree.  “Can we kill him now?”

“Ah.  Right.  About that, Weaver....”  Lucifer took a deep breath.  “I need to take him back alive.”

For a moment the goddess just looked at him blankly before her hand shot out, striking him hard on his cheek.  Tears of rage started to flow from her eyes.  “That murderer killed my husband!” she yelled.

“I know --”

“He destroyed my happiness!”

“Bloody hell, Weaver, I know --”

“And you want us to release him?!”  The goddess rounded on Healing, who had walked up with Sachiel at her angry rant.  “I thought you said he wasn’t like the others!”

“He isn’t,” the healer said as he held up his hands defensively.  “Look, Weaver, you know Angel.  If he wants to keep that one alive, I’m sure it’s for a good reason --”

“If I don’t bring him back to Earth, Compassion will be killed,” Lucifer said bluntly, which caught the goddess’s attention.  “Right.  I’m only doing this because I’m trying to save my wife and the child she’s carrying.”

Weaver’s eyes narrowed.  “I don’t believe you.”

“Bloody hell, I’m not lying,” the fallen angel said through gritted teeth.  “But I do have a solution, if you would care to hear it.”

“Give him a chance,” Healing added.  “He’s a good man.  You know my sister.  She wouldn’t have chosen him, if he wasn’t worthy.”

Healing’s words touched something deep inside Lucifer’s core, making him wince.  He wished he _was_ worthy, but the truth was that he had destroyed Chloe’s life.  He wasn’t a good man, but he would do whatever it took to keep her safe.

Weaver looked him up and down critically.  “Very well, then.  Speak, Angel.  Tell me your solution.”

Taking a deep breath, Lucifer said, “Right.  I want to take my brother back to Earth.  Once Compassion is safe, I will throw Ansiel in Hell.  The bloody sod will be locked up forever.  It won’t be pleasant.”

“But he will be alive,” the goddess hissed, anger radiating from her in waves.

“But tortured for all eternity.”  Lucifer pulled up his charm.  He knew it didn’t work on the Old Gods, but at this point, he would take any help he could get.  “Wouldn’t that be better than just killing him right away?  There is something to be said for torture in Hell.  Time flows differently in the cells there -- every minute is like many years.  Trust me -- it is a just sentence.”

Lifting her chin, Weaver said, “I doubt that.”

“Come on, Weaver!” Lucifer coaxed.  “He will be punished for what he’s done.  I give you my word.”

He could see her wavering; she had one last argument to make.  “But what is to stop him from telling others about us?  He has already threatened us.  What is to stop him from carrying out his threats and killing us all?” she cried.

Lucifer brightened.  “Ah.  I have a solution for that, as well.  This is my sister, Sachiel,” he said as he grabbed the angel’s hand and brought her forward.

“I remember her,” the goddess said coldly.  “She stayed with Healing for two months.  Many of us did not approve of him consorting with a winged woman who was around during the time of the Expulsion.”

While Sachiel flushed with shame, Healing defended angrily, “She had nothing to do with that.”

“She was there,” Weaver snapped.  “There, with all the other winged men and women, destroying our homes, our families, our lives!  You expect us to just... accept her?”

“You accepted me,” Lucifer said softly.

The older woman’s eyes softened as she looked at him.  “You were not part of the Expulsion.  You were chosen by Compassion.  We know you are a good man.”

_No.  No, I’m not...._

Pushing away his dark thoughts, he took a deep breath and said, “Healing is vouching for my sister.  You trust him, don’t you?  Sachiel is a good woman.  Come on, Weaver -- you and the others can accept her, as well.  Besides, my sister has power over memories.  She’ll take away his memories of this place.  She will ensure the safety of you and everyone here.”

Weaver looked hard at Sachiel.  “That is impossible.  Memories cannot be tampered with.”

She stared back somberly.  “I can do it.”

“I do not believe you.  Prove it.”

The angel sighed unhappily, but nodded.  “Very well.  I can take a memory away, if you wish.  Perhaps of War bringing you here?”

The goddess nodded.  “That would be sufficient proof.”

With sad eyes, Sachiel approached the older woman.  A soft pink light flared from her hand briefly as she placed it on Weaver’s forehead, then lowered it with a furrowed brow.  “Just one moment,” she said, and repeated the action, this time the glow a lighter pink than before.  The goddess blinked, then went ash pale.

“Sun and Moon,” she whispered fearfully.  “What are you?!”

“It’s just a blanket, for I cannot fully remove memories from your kind -- but I can from my siblings.”  The angel looked at Healing, her gaze full of meaning, as she said, “You will be safe.”

“So how about it, Weaver?” Lucifer asked.  “Can I have Ansiel back?”

The goddess finally tore her horrified gaze from Sachiel to the Devil.  “She’s some sort of monster, crawling through people’s heads --”

“No!  She’s not a monster --” Healing protested, but Sachiel caught his hand and shook her head, warning him not to say more.

“She’s right,” she whispered softly, then addressed the goddess.  “My father made me a monster.  I’ve always been his tool, to be used... but I promise you, I will never use my power on you or anyone here without your permission.  Healing --” her voice choked on his name, “Healing saved my life twice.  I owe him a great debt.  I will never do anything to harm any of you.”

The two women stared at each other for what seemed to be a long time, before Weaver finally turned to Lucifer.  “I believe her -- and you.  Very well.  Take that creature... but be sure he is well punished.  I will explain what has happened here to Sun and the others.”

Lucifer felt his shoulders sag in relief and released the breath he had been holding.  “Thank you, Weaver.  You won’t be sorry.”  Turning to War, he said, “Let’s fetch the bloody sod, shall we?”  The two of them approached the tree, where the bound angel watched them warily.

“Too bad we have to release him to your custody.  I enjoyed throwing things at him,” War said as he circled around the large camphor tree and started to remove a shackle from one of his captive’s wrists.

Without warning, Ansiel whipped around the hand with the shackle and chain still attached, slamming the freed manacle into the side of Lucifer’s head.  The Devil fell to the ground, stunned senseless from the blow.  Faster than any of them could react, Ansiel sprang away from the tree.  As Weaver, Sachiel and Healing looked up with surprise, the angel leaped in front of them and grabbed the healer, swiftly wrapping the chain around his neck and yanking hard.  War started to run toward him, teeth bared and sword drawn, but skidded to a stop as Ansiel pulled Healing in front of him.

“Don’t move, any of you, or I will kill him,” he snarled.

 


	14. Tying Loose Ends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A very big thank you to my most excellent beta, ScooterThyme! You rock!

 

 

“Don’t move, any of you, or I will kill him,” Ansiel snarled.

Lucifer slowly pulled himself to his feet, as the pain from his head reverberated through his ribs and ended in his broken arm.  He shook his head to clear it.  Bloody hell, what had just happened?  Lifting a hand to feel the egg-sized lump forming on the side of his head, he was surprised to feel how wet it was.  Pulling his hand back, he saw that it was coated with blood.  Shite!  Struggling to push away the pain and disorientation, he took in the situation at a glance -- his brother choking Healing and using him as a hostage to keep War and everyone else at bay.  The healer clutched at the chain, but he could only issue gurgled grunts as he struggled against the angel.

“Bloody hell, Ansiel, do you want to make this situation worse?” Lucifer asked as he held up his hand to show he was not reaching for War’s sword.

“How can it be worse?” Ansiel cried angrily.  “You’re going to send me to Hell!  Well, I’m not going!”

“Right.  You bloody well can’t go anywhere _now,_ can you?” Lucifer asked reasonably as he took another step forward.  “Not with one of your wings broken.”

“Yeah, well, I can hide out until it’s healed,” the angel said with a defiant lift of his chin.  “And then I’ll find my way back home and come back here with a fricking army to eradicate everyone!”

“You’re on a bloody island, you sodding idiot,” his fallen brother snapped, taking another step forward.  “You won’t get far.  And every god here will be looking for you.  Believe me, you don’t want to do this.”

“Stupid gods, disrespecting me!  Well, I’ll show them,” Ansiel spat as he tightened the chain around Healing’s neck.  “Ah-ah-ah!” he snarled as War took a step forward.  “Stay back!”

The angel started dragging his captive off to one side, as War, Lucifer, Sachiel and Weaver looked on helplessly.  The fallen angel looked at Healing with fear in his eyes.  This was Chloe’s brother -- his family!  He’d be damned if he let anything happen to him!

“Ansiel, look at me.”  Taking another step forward, Lucifer spoke as calmly as possible while letting his eyes burn like fire.  “If you kill that god, I _will_ punish you, of that you can be sure.  Now come on, bro, let him go.”

“No.  He’s my insurance.  My ticket out of here,” Ansiel said with a grin.

The fallen angel gazed nervously at his brother-in-law, and was surprised to find Healing staring back at him.  Despite his face starting to turn blue, his eyes were trying to tell him something.  It was a look his wife sometimes gave him when they were working a case and she wanted him to be ready for... something.  Lucifer readied himself to attack the rogue angel when the time was right.

Suddenly, Healing elbowed Ansiel hard before going completely limp.  The angel grunted at the impact, then tightened the chain encircling Healing’s neck as the god became dead weight.  At that moment, Lucifer launched himself at his brother, speeding at him like a bullet and knocking him away from the downed god.  With a furious yell, War rushed up to the tussling pair and jumped in the fray, managing to yank Ansiel off his feet and throw him into the trunk of the camphor tree.  There was a sickening crunch as the trunk splintered under the impact of the angel.  Lucifer dashed over and punched his brother hard, knocking him out.

“Bloody sod,” he spat before he turned and rushed over to his brother-in-law.  Weaver had helped Healing to a sitting position as the healer unwrapped the chain from around his own neck.  Meanwhile Sachiel stood by, her face white and distraught.

Lucifer skidded to a stop before the threesome.  “Are you all right, Healing?”

“I... I think so,” the god replied in a hoarse voice as he rubbed the bruises on his neck.  “I’ll have to go home and fix myself up.  I’m not usually the one who needs healing.”  He half-laughed, half-coughed.  “What about you?  Your head looks awful.  I can fix that up, as well as --”

“No time,” Lucifer said, taking a step back.  “No, I’ll be fine.”

The healer gave him a disgruntled look, but said nothing.

War rushed up and helped Healing to his feet.  “You okay?”

“I will be,” he said a little unsteadily.  He turned his gaze to Sachiel, who had taken a few steps back and watched with sad, tear-filled eyes.  “Sachi --”

She shook her head and turned away.  Lucifer could see her shoulders shaking; bloody hell, she was crying....

Keeping his gaze upon Sachiel, Healing said to everyone else, “Would you all excuse us for a moment?”  Walking over to the weeping angel, he took her hand and led her a short distance away, where they started to talk quietly amongst themselves.

As the heat of battle wore off, pain started throbbing through Lucifer’s head and body, but he angrily shoved them away.  Instead he watched the couple with interest from where he stood, while War and Weaver walked over to Ansiel.  The pair of gods tied the unconscious angel up with a length of rope that the giant had pulled off of his belt.  A quick glance told Lucifer that War looked like he wanted to kill Ansiel -- and had even kicked the angel a few times -- but Weaver held him in check with a steadying hand.  Satisfied that the war god was not about to kill his brother, the Devil turned his attention back to Healing and Sachiel. The fallen angel wished he could hear what his sister and brother-in-law were saying, for his curiosity was quite piqued.

The Devil nodded to himself with satisfaction when Healing finally pulled Sachiel into his arms, giving her a long, warm hug.  She reached up and caressed his bruised neck, then hugged him back.  They stayed like that for a while before Lucifer realized they were going to do nothing more than just hold each other.  Bloody hell, shouldn’t they be kissing, or something?  Or falling down onto the ground and having riotous, passionate, erotic sex?  Sighing, he realized Healing really needed some tips on how to be more romantic....

“Angel!”

War’s voice broke through Lucifer’s thoughts, and he turned to the giant.

“Give them some privacy,” the war god hissed as he dragged the unconscious Ansiel along the ground until he lay at Lucifer’s feet.  “There’s your prisoner, all ready for transport.  He’s lucky you’re here to save him -- if I had my way, he’d be torn into little pieces and fed to the dogs.”

Lucifer chuckled.  War certainly sounded like Maze, or -- worse yet, Hal.

Weaver approached Lucifer.  “Punish him well, Angel,” she said, squeezing his arm.  “I’m counting on you.”  For the first time since Ansiel had appeared on that plane, she gave the Devil a small smile before walking away.

“Right.  I will!” he called after her.

“You need to have your head examined,” War said, causing Lucifer to turn toward the giant sharply.

“I beg your pardon!” he sputtered.  “Bloody hell, what have I done to make you say that?”

The giant snickered, then pointed to the lump on the side of the fallen angel’s head.  “No, I mean you need to have that looked at.”

“Bloody sod,” Lucifer muttered while War continued to chuckle.  Anxious to be on his way, he hollered to his sister.  “Sachiel!  Come, it’s time to go -- you can shag Healing later.”

Both Healing and Sachiel turned at his comment, their faces bright red.  While the angel’s expression was horrified, the healer just let out a joyful laugh and released her.

“Go on,” he said kindly to her, loud enough for Lucifer to overhear.  “Maybe... do you think....  If the others are okay with it, can you come back and visit me someday?”

“I’ll try,” Sachiel replied, still blushing furiously before reaching up to tug Healing down and kiss him on the cheek.  Surprised at the action, the god’s face lit up like the sun while turning even brighter red.  Lucifer could see the color infusing not only his entire face, but also his neck and ears.  Meanwhile, like a shy hummingbird, Sachiel quickly flitted out of his arms and ran back to the Devil.  Once by his side, she gave him a dark look, which Lucifer cheerfully ignored.

“Help me with the prick, will you?” he asked as he kicked the prone man at his feet.  Working as one, the two angels bent down to pick up the ropes that held their brother, suspending him between them.

“Thank you for keeping the sod,” Lucifer called to War and Healing.

“Good luck saving Compassion -- we’re counting on you!” Healing called back in his rough, hoarse voice, while War just waved.

The two angels spread their wings and launched themselves skyward, holding their bound brother between them.

 

 

________________________________________

 

 

When they returned to the flat, Lucifer found all of his dark thoughts and depression returning a hundredfold.  Visiting Shotou had been a nice distraction, but once back on Earth, all the horrible memories of what he had done to Chloe assailed him.  He had ruined her life, and he could never forgive himself for it....

But he was taking steps to make amends, and soon everything would be resolved.

After dumping Ansiel in a corner of the living room, he went to get his phone.  While Sachiel bent over the unconscious Ansiel and took his memories away, Lucifer dialed Amenadiel and asked him to call up Raphael before bringing Maze and himself upstairs.  Then he poured himself a shot of Scotch and downed it while he waited.

In no time at all, Maze and Amenadiel had come up the elevator and greeted him.  As the demon poured herself a drink, her boyfriend took in Lucifer’s new wound.

“Aw, Luci, what in Heaven’s name are you doing to yourself?” he cried.

“It looks worse than it feels,” the fallen angel said simply as he dampened a bar towel and proceeded to clean up the blood from the side of his head.

“You really need to get Raphael to look at you.”

“And I told you, bro -- _no.”_

“Stubborn ass,” Amenadiel muttered just as Raphael landed on the balcony.

As the healer walked into the flat, his eyes immediately went to the bandages around Lucifer’s torso.  With a curse, he strode over to his brother and reached out, but the fallen angel neatly sidestepped him and stayed out of his reach.

“Heavenly Father, what have you done to yourself, Luci?” Raphael asked.

“Broken arm, broken head,” Amenadiel answered for Lucifer, who sputtered angrily.

The healer gaped at his fallen brother.  “Well, why haven’t you gotten Chloe to fix it?!”

“Decker doesn’t give a damn,” Maze supplied helpfully with a smirk.

“What?!” exclaimed Raphael.

Lucifer gave his demon a dark look before waving her words aside.  “Never mind that.  I have something important to discuss with you all.”

“But your arm, and your head --” the healer objected, but his fallen brother talked over him.

“I have something to discuss that’s of the utmost importance.  Can you all have a seat?”  He ushered them into the living room.  Amenadiel, Maze and Sachiel took the couch, while Raphael sat in Lucifer’s armchair.  The Devil stayed on his feet and looked at them all as warmth radiated from his chest.  Next to Chloe, they were his most trusted confidants... and he was proud to call them family.

He looked at each person, one by one.  Sachiel, so quiet and serene, Raphael, passionate in his effort to help, Maze, his most loyal demon, and Amenadiel, strong and brave.  He knew the tasks he entrusted to them would be fulfilled, no matter what.  Nodding to himself, he began.

“I need your help -- all of you.  You’re the only ones I trust.  My wife --” he choked on the word, swallowing down the hurt bubbling up from his gut, and continued.  “My wife is having a baby.  I know it’s not a Nephilim, but Orphiel and the bloody Council are convinced that it is.  I’m going to confront Orphiel at noon today -- in exchange for Ansiel, he promises to keep his word and leave my family alone, since the baby is not a Nephilim.”

“We don’t know for sure --” Raphael started, but Lucifer glared at him with burning red eyes.

“I _know,_ Rafe.  I know.”

“You’re exchanging that feathered idiot for Decker’s safety?” Maze asked as she glanced at the corner where Ansiel was propped up in a sitting position.  “It sounds like a trap.”

So his trusted demon had the same suspicions that _he_ had.  Lucifer only smiled at her intuition.

“If you’re going to do this, I’m going with you,” she snapped.

“No --”

“Yes,” she hissed.  “I’m your demon.  I’m going.”

“Besides, you’re injured, Luci -- you can’t fight Orphiel like that,” Amenadiel objected.  “Maze and I will help.”

He barked out a laugh.  “Bloody hell, you needn’t worry about me, but very well.  Come if you must, although that isn’t why I called you all here.”  He paused, shut his eyes and took a deep breath.  “I need to ask each of you for a favor, just in case things... don’t go well.  Can I count on you all?”

At the sound of their muttered assents, he took courage to make his requests.  “Amenadiel, if... if I should fall... make sure Orphiel, Karael and Ansiel -- especially Ansiel -- end up in Hell.  Can you do that?”

“What?!  If you should fall...?  Heavenly Father, do you intend on dying?” Amenadiel snarled, but his brother cut him off.

“Can you?” Lucifer asked in a hard voice.

Seeing how serious his brother was, the angel swallowed hard and nodded.  “I can.”

The Devil next turned to Raphael.  “I want you to take care of Chloe.  I know she’ll be in good hands with you.  Can you do it?”

The healer turned ash pale.  “Luci, you can’t be thinking --”

“Can you?” he snapped.

Raphael nodded slowly.  “I can.”

Lucifer then turned to Sachiel and his demon.  “Maze, Sachiel -- I want you to watch over Beatrice and the baby.”

The demon’s lip curled in disgust, but with a hiss she nodded angrily.  The angel also nodded unhappily.

“Splendid!”  Lucifer felt relief.  “Then let’s go -- we’re going to where we fought Barachiel.  Amenadiel, arm yourself with a weapon, bring Maze, and follow me.  Rafe, Sachi, you both stay here.”

Having put his house in order, he nodded to himself with satisfaction.  This would do.  After walking over to Ansiel, he hauled his unconscious brother onto his shoulder.  Staggering a bit as the extra weight caused pain to ricochet through his beaten body, he strode to the balcony.  He took a deep breath, reveling in the feel of the warm sun on his wings as he spread them wide, and launched himself into the air.  He had every confidence in the world that Chloe, Beatrice and the baby would be well taken care of.

Now... now he could make amends to his wife and fight a good fight.  And if he happened to die in the process?  So much the better.

 


	15. Clearing the Air

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A very big thank you to my excellent beta, ScooterThyme! You are awesome!

 

 

Raphael watched his brothers and their demon disappear into the hazy blue sky.  Foreboding overcame him at Lucifer’s suicidal attitude.  “Crap,” he muttered angrily as he exchanged glances with Sachiel.  “That idiot brother of ours is planning on dying.”

His sister nodded, her eyes sad.  “It appears so.”

“Crap, crap, crap!”  The healer paced angrily for a few minutes in the living room before he turned to her.  “Where the hell is Chloe?  Amenadiel told me she’s no longer here, but...”

Sachiel looked around the penthouse.  “Look at the mess this place is in.  It seems she and Trixie haven’t been here for a while -- although I suppose Lucifer can be pretty untidy when he wants to be.”

“Damn it all,” he muttered.  “Where would she go?  Hal’s?”

“That is a possibility,” she said.  “Or....”

“Or?”

“Occasionally, Father asked me to glimpse into the memories of humans.  I’ve found that women often go home to their mothers, or an equally safe place when there is a domestic problem.”

“Home to their mothers, huh?”  Raphael’s brow furrowed as he racked his brains.  “That would mean her old home, the beach house.”   _I hope,_ he thought.  Walking up to his sister, he said, “Do me a favor -- run home to my apartment and get a black, carved lacquer box that’s on my desk in the study.  It’s a box of medicine from Healing -- I have a feeling we’ll need it.  I’ll meet you at the fight location.”

She nodded.  “Done.  But what about the Council?  Is there some way we can get them to stop this?”

The healer shook his head.  “No.  I’m sure the Council knows what Orphiel is doing, so they won’t be of any help.  They are a bunch of sheep, though, so when Amenadiel throws Orphiel in Hell, I’ll try to talk some sense into them.”  He refrained from saying what they both feared -- that Orphiel might come out victorious against Lucifer.

Sachiel looked at him with worry in her eyes.  “What are you going to do now?”

“Find Chloe.  If anyone can save Lucifer from his suicidal tendencies, it’s her.”

 

 

________________________________________

 

 

Chloe sighed as she sat on the couch in the living room, wishing for the hundredth time that she was home with Lucifer and not at the beach house with her mother.  Taking Trixie to school in the morning had tuckered her out.  She tried to take it easy, even though she still had more work to do -- like laundry.  She had to admit, the pregnancy was making her more and more tired as the due date approached.  It would have been nice if her mother had been able to take Trixie to school or help with the chores, but she had said breezily, “A possible part!” and took an Uber for an audition across town.

In all honesty, though, Chloe was glad that her mother had left -- Penelope could drive anyone crazy after a certain point.  She certainly needed a break from the flighty woman.  Chloe sighed unhappily.  If only she hadn’t told her mother that she would wait a week before talking to Lucifer!  Her husband hadn’t come to see her, but that didn’t stop her from wondering if there had been some sort of breakdown in communication.  Lucifer had always been so sweet -- thinking of her health, Trixie’s happiness, the baby....  They even had a nursery prepared at the penthouse!  That didn’t seem like what a man bent on killing his own child would do.

And yet, no matter how she turned the conversation in her head, she couldn’t get past the fact that she had seen the truth on his face when she asked him about the deal with the Council.  He _had_ made the deal with them, that was certain.  It just didn’t make sense.  Why would he do such a thing?

But then again, what did she know?  She had spent over nine years with Dan, working with him, sharing a home and child with him, and he still betrayed her in the end with Palmetto -- and in the worst way.  She thought she had known him inside and out, but it turned out she had been living with a stranger.  And Lucifer -- was he a stranger, too?  Was her judgement so bad when it came to men that she’d make the same mistake again?  She had been taken for a fool by a man she loved, once before -- she refused to let it happen again.

“Chloe.”

She jumped at the sound of the voice behind her, her police instincts immediately jumping into gear.  Where was her gun?  In her purse, which was on the kitchen counter....  Damn it!  But when she turned to face the intruder, she found herself face to face with Raphael.  His appearance shocked her, for his face was pulled in tight lines, his hair was askew, and his eyes... his eyes were full of worry and fear.

“What’s wrong?” she asked uneasily, before fear suddenly blossomed within her, taking a hold of her emotions and clamping them down with unnatural calm.  Damn, she really needed her gun....  In a hard voice, she asked, “Is Lucifer coming to kill my baby?”

Raphael stared at her like she was a woman possessed.  “What?!  No!  What in Father’s name gave you that idea?!”

That made her blink with surprise.  “He’s not?”

“Heavenly Father, no -- he’s doing everything he can to protect you both, and I’m afraid he’s going to do something incredibly stupid.  I know you’re close to giving birth and that I’m asking a lot, but please....  You have to come with me.”

“What?  Why?”  She stared at the angel.  “What’s going on?”

“Chloe,” he said, taking a step toward her, “Lucifer’s in trouble.”

Worry shot through her at his words, filling her with a horrible sensation of dread that raced up and down her spine, but she pushed it aside angrily.  Was this a trick to get her out into the open, where she was vulnerable?  Then again, this was Rafe....  Rafe wouldn’t do such a thing, would he?  Chloe just didn’t know anymore, so she decided to play it safe.

“I’m not going anywhere,” she said with a lift of her chin as she placed her hands protectively on her belly.  “I have to protect my baby.”

“You... you’re forsaking my brother?”  For a long moment Raphael stared at her in shock, his mouth gaping slightly, before comprehension dawned and his eyes grew intense.  “He didn’t do a very good job telling you, did he?”

“He told me about the deal, if that’s what you’re talking about,” she spat, her voice harsh and angry.  “Dammit, Rafe, did you know about this?”

He nodded.  “I tried to convince him to tell you.”

She laughed bitterly.  “Oh, he told me....  Told me that he promised the Council he’d kill my baby.”

“He told you _what?!”_  Raphael looked angry enough to kill someone -- that someone being Lucifer.  “That ass!  Dammit, we don’t have time for this!”  Quickly rounding the couch, he sat down next to her and took one of her hands in his.  Squeezing it gently, he said, “Look, I don’t know what went on between you two, but apparently you have the wrong end of the stick.”

Chloe looked sharply at him.  “What do you mean?”

“You think Lucifer is going to kill your baby, right?”

“Isn’t he?” she asked bitterly.

“Dammit, Luci,” Raphael muttered sotto voce to the ceiling before looking intently at her.  “Tell me why you think that.”

She blinked, suddenly on edge, although she couldn’t understand why.  “Because he told me --  he and another angel, one he called Orph.  The angel said that Lucifer had promised to deal with the baby, when it was born.  That he had promised to kill it.”  It still hurt to say it.  Chloe looked away and rubbed her belly protectively.  “I couldn’t believe it at first, but Lucifer didn’t deny it.”

“Why, that stupid....”  Raphael muttered, then glanced at her sharply.  “Did he say anything more?  Did he explain?”

“Explain what?  What could he explain?” Chloe ground out.  “He promised to kill our baby.  I thought he was different.  I thought....  Well, it doesn’t matter what I thought.  I couldn’t stay after that, so I left him.”  It was painful to think of their argument; she clenched her teeth against the tightening in her chest.

With a big sigh, Raphael leaned against the backrest and sent his eyes skyward.  “Heavenly Father, this is worse than I thought,” he said.  When Chloe shot him a puzzled glance, he turned to her with irritation.  “You listen to me.  I was there at that Council meeting.  Yes, Lucifer said he would deal with the baby, but only if it was a Nephilim... and he was positive it wouldn’t be.  He never said he’d kill it.  Those must have been Orphiel’s words.  I’m sure Lucifer would have found a way around it.”

“But he said --”

“Chloe, _listen to me._  They were going to kill you and the baby, right then and there, four months ago.  They were ready to.  Lucifer was the one who stopped them, got them to leave you and the baby alone.  If he hadn’t made that deal with them, you wouldn’t even be here now.”

As Raphael’s words sunk in, Chloe felt horror wash over her like a rogue wave, tossing and turning her emotions until she didn’t know up from down.  Oh god...!

“I... I didn’t know....” she whispered.

“I know.  Lucifer can be incredibly tight-lipped --”

Anger, hotter than the fires of Hell, suddenly blazed through Chloe, burning away the horror to make way for rage.  “Why the hell didn’t he tell me?!  Talk to me?!  Goddamned idiot _man!”_

“Chloe...”

“Do you know what I’ve been going through these past few days?!” she stormed.  “Why didn’t he come talk to me?!”

“Chloe --”

“After all our talks about trust and communication, and he couldn’t even -- dammit!  I’ll kill him!”

_“Chloe!”_

Raphael’s urgent tone finally caught her attention.  

“I think Lucifer’s planning on getting himself killed.”

Tamping down her anger, she tried to concentrate on what her brother-in-law was saying.   _“What?!”_

“Look, I saw him earlier,” he said with agitation, his hands clenching and unclenching in his lap compulsively.  “He looked bad, and some of the things he said....  I’m afraid, Chloe.  Really afraid.  The way he was talking, it was as if he wasn’t coming back.  I think he’s planning on dying... and if that’s the case, he’ll need both of us to keep him alive.”

The blood drained out of Chloe’s face as fear crept up her spine at his words.  She did not want Lucifer to die.  Now that she knew the whole truth, she let the love she had been forcing away to once again surface.  She was angry at him, yes -- dammit, why hadn’t he come to see her?! -- but more than anything, she was angry with herself.   _She_ should have gone to see _him._  Why hadn’t she?  Because she had been afraid... afraid that he would again confirm what Orphiel had accused him of, and she hadn’t wanted to face that.  She hadn’t wanted to face the possibility that he had fooled her into believing all this time that he was a good man... like Dan had with the whole Palmetto incident.

But Lucifer hadn’t -- he _was_ a good man, remaining faithful to her, protective and loving, as always.  She should have had more faith in him.  For all of her anger at his lack of trust issues, Chloe realized that she was also guilty of not trusting him.  She had been a fool, played by that stupid angel, Orphiel.  Damn.  Damn, damn, damn....

Well, now that everything was out in the open, they would get this all worked out.  They would clear the air, she would beat him to within an inch of his life, and then she’d beg for his forgiveness and love him out of his mind.  Struggling to her feet, she ordered, “Take me to him.”

“It may be dangerous --” warned Raphael.

“I’ll get my gun.”

“Very well.”

In less than a minute, she was ready.  Once outside with the angel, he swept her into his arms and launched himself into the air.

 _Don’t do anything stupid, Lucifer,_ she thought hard as she held tight to Raphael.   _I’m coming...._

  



	16. Brother Against Brother

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A super-huge thank you to my beta, ScooterThyme, for reviewing this chapter. You are awesome!

 

 

“Orphiel!  I have your man!”

Lucifer dumped the rousing Ansiel in the little clearing by the isolated woods and stared out into the blue sky above him.  The sun beat straight down upon him, its heat toasting his body.  Raising a hand to his eyes against the bright sunlight, he scanned the area for the council leader.  Beside him, Amenadiel landed and set Maze on the ground.

“Come on, you bloody sod, where are you?” he muttered to himself, and called out again: “Orphiel!”

The archangel walked out from a grove of trees, smiling.  His wings were spread intimidatingly wide, and ruffled to make them appear larger than they were.  He wore a warrior’s robes -- the kind Amenadiel often wore -- and in his hand was a very large sword.  Lucifer’s heart gave a lurch.  The Sword of Heaven.  Bloody hell, Orphiel wasn’t fooling around.

Karael followed behind the archangel, a smirk on his face, as well as several black-winged angels.  Warrior Elite?  Or leftover Enforcers rehabilitated from Barachiel’s group?  The fallen angel sighed.  It didn’t really matter what they were -- he would have to fight them, no matter what.

The Devil managed to pull his own sword from his belt and unsheathed it, tossing the scabbard onto the ground while sending an apology skyward to War for the disrespectful gesture... but he only had one hand to work with.  He hoped War’s sword would be able to withstand the strength of the Sword of Heaven.

Amenadiel and Maze took their places beside the Devil; the demon crouched into a fighting stance with her knives, while her boyfriend hefted the morning star he had taken from the duffel bag from Hell.  Amenadiel eyed the archangel and whispered to his fallen brother, “Luci, that sword is --”

“I know what it is. Can you take Karael?” he asked quietly.  “Orphiel is mine.”

“I see you have Ansiel.  Toss him here,” Orphiel ordered.

“Not until I have some guarantee that you will leave my family alone,” Lucifer yelled back.

The archangel laughed.  “Ever the bold one!  You are in no position to argue, Luci.  Hand Ansiel over.”

“No.  Bloody hell, you swore that if I brought this tosser to you, you would leave my family alone.  I’m holding you to that promise, you bloody oaf.”

“A promise made under duress holds no merit,” Orphiel said smugly, then turned his eyes toward Amenadiel.  “Why do you stand with the Fallen One, brother?”

“What you’re doing is wrong, Orphiel,” he answered.

“No, what _you’re_ doing is wrong.  We swore an oath to protect the Earth, remember?  After the Nephilim debacle when Father flooded the Earth, we all did.  Or have you conveniently forgotten?”

Lucifer was dismayed to see Amenadiel’s face grimace.  “I remember,” his brother said.

Orphiel turned on the charm, smiling reasonably.  “I am trying my best to uphold that oath.  We are guardians of the Earth, entrusted by Father to protect it.  You cannot possibly be considering siding with the Fallen One?”

The angel said nothing, making his fallen brother fidget nervously.  Surely Amenadiel couldn’t be considering Orphiel’s words?

“The Fallen One has made a Nephilim with his Old God,” the council leader continued.  “It is our duty to protect the Earth from it.  You know what kind of havoc resulted when they walked the Earth.  You remember the destruction, do you not?  We must not let it happen again.  The Nephilim must die.”

“We don’t know that it’s a Nephilim!  And until we do, I cannot join you in killing the baby,” Amenadiel stated firmly.   _Thank you, bro,_ Lucifer thought as relief flooded his insides.

The archangel shook his head.  “I’m disappointed in you, brother.  Very disappointed.  One would have thought you would have more concern for the humans since you’ve been here so long, but obviously you don’t.  You can no longer be trusted, now that you have become a demon lover.”

“Hey!  You think that’s a bad thing?!” Maze snapped.

Ignoring the demon, Orphiel ordered, “Kill them all.”

The archangel took a step back as Karael and the black-winged angels flooded past him, rushing toward the threesome.  The two angels and the demon ran to meet them; the opposing forces clashed fiercely in a whirlwind of destruction.  Maze leaped and danced through the angels, slashing with her curved blades at anything that moved.  Amenadiel barreled through the group, striking out with the spike-studded mace, while Lucifer swung his sword, easily cleaving through flesh and bone.

Karael rushed over to Ansiel, freeing his brother before Amenadiel tackled them both to the ground.  Maze struggled to keep the other angels from striking down her boyfriend as Lucifer dashed over and knocked Ansiel away with a vicious kick.

“Can you and Maze take them?” he yelled at Amenadiel, who punched Karael in the face before getting to his feet.

“You bet.”

“I’m going after Orphiel,” the fallen angel yelled and launched himself skyward.  Before Amenadiel could even speak, he was gone.

Maze dashed after Ansiel, who grabbed a dead angel’s sword and swung it at her head.  She parried with her knives, then leaped in to attack.  Moving faster than the eye could follow, the angel’s free hand shot out, punching her in the face and driving her back.  He stabbed at her, grazing her side, before he tackled her to the ground.

Amenadiel, seeing his girlfriend go down, dashed over and knocked Ansiel in the back of the head, rendering him unconscious.  Maze quickly leaped to her feet like a cat, and snarled at the angel.

“I was fine!”

“Yeah, you looked fine!” he snapped back before parrying the swing of Karael’s sword.  The demon hissed as she leaped toward the attacker and slashed his leg with her knife.  As Karael collapsed, she head-butted him, knocking him out completely.

“I told you I was fine,” she spat, then grabbed Amenadiel and gave him a feral kiss.  The two would have fallen over and had sex right there had it not been for more attackers flying their way.  Baring her teeth at the interruption, Maze took a place behind Amenadiel.  Back to back, the pair fought viciously like a tornado of blades and spikes until all the angels battling them were either dead or injured.

Meanwhile, Lucifer shot toward his brother waiting at the back of the battlefield, well out of the way of any fighting.  Seeing the Devil speeding toward him, Orphiel smiled and took off in flight.  The fallen angel banked, then rolled, feeling the lift against his wings as he soared after the angel.  He darted around trees as his brother tried to shake him in the sparse woods nearby.  Lucifer had no intention of losing sight of his prey; like a hawk he kept after him, slowly gaining ground until he could almost reach him.

Without warning, Orphiel shot skyward like a rocket.  Lucifer followed as they climbed higher and higher in altitude, until his brother suddenly skidded to a stop at a dizzying height.  There they both hovered as they each sized the other up.

“It pains me to have to kill you, brother,” the archangel said.

“You shouldn’t have gone after my wife and child,” Lucifer replied, his eyes glowing red with fire.  “How many times do I have to tell you -- it’s _not_ a bloody Nephilim!”

“You’re living in a dream world!” Orphiel spat.  “Open your eyes!  What else can it be?  An angel and a human!”

“My wife is also an Old God, you prat!”

“That is irrelevant!  The baby cannot be anything but a Nephilim!  Don’t you understand?  I have a duty to protect this Earth,” the archangel snarled.  “I couldn’t let your stupid delusions destroy the world and the humans we were sworn to protect!”

“I’m not the one with delusions!  If you would just open your eyes, you’d realize that there is no danger to the Earth!” Lucifer roared back.

“Your selfish desire for the Nephilim knows no bounds, brother!” the angel scoffed.

Without warning, Orphiel shot toward Lucifer, swinging his sword madly.  The Devil dodged and parried as best he could, but each vicious strike his brother dealt him sent vibrations of pain throughout his body, jarring his injured arm and ribs.  Swearing under his breath, he gritted his teeth and kept on fighting.  The sound of clashing swords rang through the heavens, each blow punctuating the air like a gunshot.

Slashing madly at each other in their aerial dance -- Orphiel with the Sword of Heaven, and Lucifer with his gift from War -- the two appeared equally matched at first.  Orphiel was relentless, though -- one particularly close stroke cut the sling free from Lucifer’s body while raking across his chest, drawing blood.  A hot shaft of pain ripped through the Devil’s body as his arm fell uselessly to his side.  He tottered a bit, but managed to beat his wings and steady himself just before the next blow rained down on him.

Lucifer saw the blade speeding toward his head and swung his sword hard to parry.  A tremendous crack thundered across the sky as both swords broke upon impact.  Lucifer gaped, shocked, as did Orphiel, before the archangel’s hand shot out and grabbed his fallen brother’s upper arm.  With one hard yank, he propelled Lucifer toward him and thrust the broken blade deep into his gut.  Pain ripped through the Devil as he looked down in disbelief at the hilt buried in his stomach, then back at his brother.

_Bloody hell --_

Orphiel showed no mercy.  Once -- twice -- he stabbed his brother before slashing out, cutting a ragged gash across his gut.  In excruciating agony, Lucifer tried to strike the archangel with his broken sword, but Orphiel easily knocked it out of his hand... and laughed.

It was the laughter that helped Lucifer pull himself together.  He couldn’t afford to lose this fight -- Chloe’s life depended on it.  Lunging at the archangel with a cry, managed to knock the broken Sword of Heaven from his brother’s hand.  Grabbing Orphiel’s robes tightly, he flipped his wings, speeding like a missile straight down toward the ground far below.  Lucifer tightened his grip on his struggling brother, positioning them so that the angel would hit the ground first.

The Devil gritted his teeth as the world screamed past, the wind shrieking in his ears like the souls of the damned.  Determined to win, he struggled to hold on to consciousness even as he began to feel his life slip away.  Ah, Chloe....  Would she even care that he was going to die?  No... she hated him.  Most likely she thought he was a monster -- a foul, horrible creature out to kill the life that they had created.  It hurt terribly that she would believe Orphiel’s claims, but... was it so surprising?  He had been rejected by everyone he had ever loved.  Perhaps it was his fate to die alone.

He was ready for it all to end.  All of it.  Without Chloe, life no longer held any meaning.

Slamming into the ground like a meteor, he and Orphiel created a massive crater that tore up the earth as the concussion rippled over the land.  He lay on top of his unconscious brother at the epicenter of the impact -- a horrible, twisted mess of broken bones, blood, and feathers.  There was no more pain.  Perhaps it was because he was too far gone.

Suddenly Amenadiel was before him, calling his name... or at least he thought he was.  He couldn’t hear anything.  The world was strangely silent.  His stomach lurched as lightheadedness made his head spin.  He managed to reach up and grab his brother’s shoulder with a bloody hand and say, “T-take Orphiel to Hell.  Promise....”

And then Rafe was there... and... Chloe?  No -- surely a hallucination, for she was so beautiful she blinded him.  Tears burned his eyes, rolled down his cheeks.  He tried to reach out to her, but his hand just lay uselessly at his side.  A barely audible, derisive chuckle escaped him as he closed his eyes. Everything was always just out of reach -- Chloe, happiness, love... everything.

_Ah, Chloe...._

Before him lay oblivion -- a vast, gray nothingness.   _At last,_ he thought.  An end to his suffering, and a way to make things right.  With a small sigh of resignation and perhaps a little relief, he relinquished himself to the abyss.

 

  



	17. Saving Lucifer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A super-huge thank you to my excellent beta, ScooterThyme! You make my work shine!

 

 

_ “Lucifer!” _

Chloe screamed as she knelt down beside him, terrified at all the blood pouring out of him.  She was barely aware of Raphael beside her, grabbing bottles from Healing’s medicine box and pouring powders directly on the massive wound in his brother’s gut.  The sight of Amenadiel lifting Orphiel and taking him away also escaped her attention.

Panic flared in Chloe like a mad thing, so great and overwhelming that for a moment she couldn’t even think.  Just as it raced through her, immobilizing her, a calmness took over -- the same calm that she felt every time she was on the job and in danger.  She could do this -- she could save him.  There was no way after everything they had been through that she would lose him now.  Quickly placing her hands on her husband’s chest, she pulled up as much power as she could, diving in after the white energy to heal him.

What she saw was horrifying.  Everything was so badly damaged, she feared she didn’t have enough energy to fix it all.  Destroyed organs, massive internal bleeding, broken bones... and his soul, slowly slipping away into nothingness.  She hardly knew where to begin, but his soul came first.  With desperation she grabbed what she could feel of it and anchored it down to his heart, although its beats were slowly fading into nothing.

_ Stay, Lucifer, stay, _ she told him desperately as she started working on his injuries.

Gradually she became aware of a blue energy working side by side with her white one, mending and healing.  Rafe.  Gratitude swamped her, giving her morale a much-needed boost.  Together they worked in tandem as they fought to keep Lucifer alive.  How long they labored over their patient, Chloe didn’t know, but eventually the amount of internal bleeding lessened, the organs were repaired, broken bones were knitted back together and the fallen angel’s heart started thumping at a more steady pace.

When Chloe finally came back into herself, she found herself collapsed on top of her husband’s chest.  She could barely lift her head, but she managed it, and saw Raphael sitting on the other side of his brother, his face as white as snow and looking like he was about to pass out.  Glancing over, Chloe was relieved to see Lucifer’s face with a tint of color to it, rather than the deathly gray it had been.

“Thank you, Rafe,” she managed to say.  “I don’t think I would have been able to save him if not for you.”

“And Healing,” he responded, waving a hand at the medicine box beside him, now almost empty.  “If it hadn’t been for his powders, I doubt the two of us would have been able to pull him back from the brink.  That was horribly close.”

“Too close,” she said as she pulled herself off of her husband and looked at him closely.  The anger and fear she had been holding back suddenly flooded through her, causing her whole body to shake violently.

“Stupid, idiotic  _ man!” _ she snapped at the unconscious Devil, as tears of reaction fell from her eyes.  “Stupid, stupid... stupid!”  She turned furious eyes to Raphael.  “Why would he do this? Why would he try to kill himself?!”

But as she sat there in front of her husband, her anger gradually burned away, to be replaced by guilt.  “Oh god, this is my fault, isn’t it?” Chloe asked as her expression became tortured.  “If I had just let him explain....  And when we argued, I said some things... oh my god....”

Raphael shook his head.  “No, Chloe, this is not your fault.  It’s not anyone’s fault.  It’s just a breakdown in communication.  If anyone’s to blame, it’s Orphiel, for pushing his will upon the Council and trying to kill the baby, when we still don’t know what it is.”

Just then Amenadiel, carrying Maze, and Sachiel landed next to the threesome.  As soon as Amenadiel lowered his girlfriend to the ground, she rushed over to the Devil, kneeling beside him and shaking his shoulders.

“You idiot!” she screamed at him, while Raphael, Sachiel and Chloe watched in shock.  “You ass!  You goddamned stupid ass bastard!  How dare you get yourself killed!”

“Uh... Maze --” the healer began but the demon was oblivious.

“You make me so mad sometimes, I wish I killed you myself!” she snarled.

“He’s alive,” Chloe told her, which had Maze’s head snapping toward her.

“What?!” she screeched.  Running a hand over all the blood covering Lucifer, she found that underneath it all, he was whole.  Then she raged even more: “You stupid bastard, making me worry like that!  Goddamned stupid Devil!”  And then she punched the unconscious man across the face.

“Okay, that’s enough,” Amenadiel said, as he pulled his furious girlfriend away from her boss.  Maze turned and slammed her fist into his jaw, before knocking him to the ground and tearing his clothes off.

“Oh god,” Chloe muttered as she covered her eyes with her hand.  Meanwhile, Sachiel’s face flushed a furious red and she hurriedly turned her back to the pair.

“Heavenly Father!” Raphael cried at the violent coupling about to take place.  “Hey!  Both of you, can you do that later somewhere else, when it’s more appropriate?”

Maze lifted her head and snarled, “I’m hot.  All this death and destruction has turned me on.  What better place to have sex than at a bloody battlefield?!”

Amenadiel groaned and sat himself up.  “No, Raphael is right.  Let’s continue this later.”  His girlfriend snarled and raked her claws down his chest, drawing blood, before licking the wounds.  The angel shivered at the erotic move but managed to set the demon away from him -- barely.

Standing, he tried to straighten his clothes as he said, “Sachiel and I got Orphiel, Karael and Ansiel in cells downstairs.  I’m not sure what to do with all these other injured siblings, though....”

Raphael scanned all of the bodies littering the ground around them.  Frowning, he said, “They look like Barachiel’s Enforcers.  I suspect many of them will still follow Orphiel, or anyone of like mind.  I’d like to think they can be rehabilitated, but somehow I doubt it.  Let’s put the live ones in cells for now, and start up a funeral pyre for those who died.  I’ll discuss this with the Council.”  He glanced at Amenadiel.  “I’m sorry for the extra work.”

His brother shrugged.  “No problem.  It has to be done, and if it keeps Chloe and the baby safe, it’s worth it.”

“Thank you,” Chloe said to him, giving him a grateful smile.  “Lucifer and I appreciate all your help.”

“He’s my brother,” Amenadiel said simply, then glanced around him.  “Well, they are too, but I’ve been with Lucifer longer.  I feel like I don’t even know my own siblings anymore.”

“I know what you mean,” Sachiel added in a soft voice.  “Heaven seems to be changing, although I’m not sure why --”

“Are you kidding me?  It’s because of your mad dad,” Maze scoffed.  “His insanity is making everyone else insane.”

Raphael nodded.  “Maze has a point.”

“Hell, yeah, I have a point,” she said proudly, lifting her chin.  The healer looked at her with a lopsided grin, before turning serious again.

“We need to get a new ruler in place soon.  This instability is driving everyone mad.”  Raphael rubbed his head anxiously.  “The question is who.  It’s becoming apparent that it can’t be another angel -- they just go mad with power.  We’ve never governed, never fended for ourselves.  We just don’t know how to rule over others.  An angel -- or even a Council -- is just another disaster waiting to happen.”

“I’m sure you’ll figure something out,” Chloe said before straightening and checking her watch.  “Oh, damn -- Trixie’s getting out of school in half an hour.  Rafe, can you get me back to my mother’s house so I can pick up my car?  And take Lucifer to the flat?  As soon as I get Trixie I’ll be heading over there.”

The angel nodded.  “Will do.  We’ll get this all cleaned up, don’t worry.  Luci will be waiting for you.”

  
  


 

________________________________________

 

 

Trixie was overjoyed at the prospect of returning to the penthouse.  Chloe hoped her little girl wasn’t going to be traumatized over Lucifer’s unconscious state.  With any luck, her husband would be awake when they got home, but she had a feeling he wouldn’t be -- not with all the blood he had lost.

Sure enough, he wasn’t -- he lay as still as death in their bed, almost as pale as a corpse.  Thankfully, Raphael had cleaned up his brother so that he wasn’t drenched in residual blood.  Lucifer lay on his side, his great white wings spread out behind him on the rest of the bed, with a blanket covering his lower half.  Chloe took a quick, surreptitious peek while Trixie wasn’t looking and confirmed that he was wearing boxer shorts under there, which made her sigh in relief.  The last thing she needed was her daughter to catch a glimpse of Lucifer’s wedding tackle!

“Why doesn’t he wake up?” Trixie asked after shaking Lucifer’s shoulder.  “He’s so still....”

“He got hurt pretty badly this morning,” Chloe told her.  “He’s better now, but he needs to rest.”

The little girl frowned before giving the fallen angel a big hug.  “I really missed you, Lucifer,” she said softly, which brought tears to her mother’s eyes.  “Wake up soon.  I’m waiting for you.”

“Come on, monkey,” Chloe said as she took Trixie’s hand and led her away.  “Let’s let him rest.  You need to start your homework....”

 

 

________________________________________

 

 

That night Trixie insisted that they crawl into bed with Lucifer.  The little girl in her pink pajamas jumped up and down in front of her mother, fluffy plushy toy in hand.  Chloe, having gotten ready for bed herself and dressed in her flannel nightshirt, stared at her daughter, mouth agape.

“Please, Mommy!  Please, please, please?” she cried.  “He’s been so lonely -- He needs us now, more than ever!”

“But baby, he’s... he’s sleeping.  I’m not sure....” the blonde woman said as she eyed the figure sprawled out on the bed.  “He’s... his wings are taking up a lot of room.”

Trixie giggled.  “Oh Mommy, you’re so silly!  His wings will be our blankets!  Please, Mommy?  Please?”  The little girl started giving her a pleading look, her eyes huge and begging in her hopeful face.

Chloe sighed.  She couldn’t resist when her daughter looked at her that way, and she did have a point -- Lucifer had been so lonely.  She had missed him desperately, as well.  “Okay, baby, but we have to be careful not to hurt his wings, okay?”

“Yippee!” Trixie cheered and gently lifted the big white wings before diving under them and snuggling next to Lucifer.  Her mother laughed -- no doubt Lucifer would bluster and pretend to be appalled if he woke up, even though he’d be quite pleased at Trixie’s presence.  With a sigh, she lifted up her husband’s wings and maneuvered herself, belly and all, under the large appendages.

It was warm under there -- much warmer than she had expected, and Lucifer’s wings were as soft as down.  Chloe caressed them under her hand, loving the feel of them.  For all of their time in bed together, Lucifer was very careful with his wings, never really showing them to her when they were in bed or having sex.  She wasn’t sure if it was because he was sensitive of them -- she knew he hadn’t liked her touching his scars, when they were missing -- or if he was afraid he would scare her with them... but she reveled in the luxurious feel of them.  She could stroke them all day and all night, if he would let her.

Turning her eyes to her husband’s back, she reached over Trixie and touched him briefly.   _ I’m here, _ she thought before drifting to sleep.   _ I’m here, husband.... _

 

 

________________________________________

 

 

Lucifer still had not awoken by the next morning, so Chloe arranged for Amenadiel and Maze to take Trixie to school and pick her up later on.  The little girl was very upset that Lucifer still had not woken up -- or even moved, for that matter.

“He was hurt very badly,” Chloe told her as her daughter pulled on her shoes and tied the laces.  “It might take a while for him to wake up.”

“I know, but... I miss him!” Trixie cried.

The blonde woman sighed as she kneeled down in front of her daughter.  “I know, baby.  Listen, you know what you can do?  Today after school, stay with Maze and Amenadiel and have them help you finish your homework.  As soon as you’re done, you can come up and spend the whole evening sitting with Lucifer.  Does that sound good?”

The little girl nodded, although it wasn’t as enthusiastic as Chloe had hoped.  “And what are you going to do, Mommy?”

“I’m going to sit with him all day, baby, so that he won’t be lonely.”

Trixie bobbed her head once.  “As long as you’re with him, Mommy, I know he’ll be okay.”

Chloe smiled at her daughter, even as doubt ran through her mind.   _ I hope so,  _ she thought.  _  I really hope so. _

 


	18. Alive and Awake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A very big thank you to my excellent beta, ScooterThyme! You rock!

 

 

Lucifer had always wondered what it felt like to be dead.

Would he still have any thoughts?  Or would he just be nothing and everything at the same time, with no consciousness at all?  A part of all the energy that made up the universe?  He didn’t know.  He had never really thought about it, for he was -- well, had been immortal, until the war in Heaven when Dad went insane.

And yet here he was, pondering it, for he had to be dead.  Where was he, exactly?  He didn’t know.  The last thing he remembered was seeing Chloe’s face before oblivion took him.  Was that where he was now?  Oblivion?  For there was nothing around him, just a vast... nothingness.

And then, as if a veil was being lifted, he became aware of other things.  Sensations in his hands and feet -- tingling, actually, along with a heaviness of his limbs.  Light shining through his closed eyelids, making his vision a burnt orange hue... and a warmth over his bare back and against his open wings.  The soft fluff of a pillow under his cheek, and the fragrance of fabric softener tickling his nose.  The sound of soft breathing nearby.  The feel of a blanket thrown over the lower part of his body.  The cool air touching his skin.

Lucifer slowly opened his eyes and blinked as he tried to clear the cloudiness from them.  He was in bed, lying on his side, facing away from the window.  Looking over his shoulder, he recognized his bedroom bathed in the golden glow of late afternoon sunshine.  The curtains over the window were flung open, letting in a stray ray of light that fell over his wings and back.  And before him -- a woman seated in a chair, sleeping with her head cradled by her arms resting on the sheets beside him.   _Chloe._

He stared at her in surprise.  Was this a torture cell in Hell?  Or some bizarre form of Heaven?  For surely he couldn’t still be alive...?  And if he was alive, what was she doing beside him?  Lifting his left hand in front of his face, he stared at it wonderingly.  The arm was no longer broken, and there was no pain.  He ran a hand over his torso, sure there would be some sign of the massive wound he had sustained there -- but there was nothing.  Chloe must have healed him.

But why?  It made no sense.  She hated him for destroying her life.  Why would she keep him alive?  Was it pity for the poor, pathetic Devil?  The thought churned his insides, and he felt a flush of anger rise to his cheeks.

As fast as that wretched emotion came, it left, leaving despondency in its wake.  What did it matter if she pitied him or not?  He _was_ pathetic, pining for what could never be.  He had ruined her life.  He’d have to live with that for the rest of eternity.  With a heavy sigh, he lifted his hand and reached for her bent head, wanting -- craving -- one last touch of her.

He stopped just short of stroking her dark blonde hair, with its streaks of gold.  So close -- so close he could feel the heat of her body reach out for his fingertips -- but he stopped.  What right did he have to touch her?  To even think of her?  No.  He didn’t deserve her.  He was the Devil, and the Devil did not deserve any happiness.  Curling his fingers into a fist, he slowly lowered his hand back to his side.  With careful movements, he folded his wings, then shifted to lay on his back so that he could turn his gaze to the ceiling.

His motions roused her; with a soft groan, she slowly lifted her sleepy face to him.  Lucifer felt her gaze upon him, but he kept his eyes trained upon the ceiling.  He wouldn’t -- couldn’t -- look at her.  He was too ashamed of destroying her life.

“Hey,” she said softly in that wonderfully husky voice she always had when she first woke up.

Lucifer turned his face away from her.  Instead he concentrated on the sunlight streaming through the pane of the window, illuminating the microscopic dust particles in the air into a shimmering field of gold specks.  Why couldn’t his life be like that -- like fairy dust?  So light, golden, and perfect?  Why did he have to destroy everything he touched?

“Lucifer?” he heard her say softly, but he kept his face averted.  Her warm hand enveloped his -- oh how wonderful it felt! -- but he forced himself to pull out of her grasp.  She sighed.  It had a sad tone to it.  “Talk to me... please?”

He didn’t think he was going to, so he surprised himself when he said, “Why?”

“Why what?”  He heard the puzzlement in her voice.

He turned toward her then, his eyes dark and fierce.  “Why did you keep me alive?”

Chloe gaped at him, her aqua eyes wide with shock.  “Why wouldn’t I?”

“Bloody hell, you should have let me die,” he said bluntly.  “It would have been better if you had.”

For a moment she just stared at him; then he saw her anger rise up and bring a charming flush to her cheeks.  Ah, he always loved her fire --

Her hand shot out and slapped him across the face.  Hard.

His head snapped back against the pillow, and he remained there, motionless for a time, before he slowly turned back toward the window.  He deserved that, he supposed, but it had been a fair comment.  He had been ready to die -- had even welcomed it at the very end.  Didn’t she realize that he was only trying to make amends?

“Don’t say that,” she said, her voice wobbly with restrained anger.  “Don’t ever say that.”

“Why not?” he asked, his voice flat and toneless.  “It’s true, you bloody well know it is.  I’m of more use to you dead than alive.”

Chloe reached over and placed her hand against his cheek, forcing him to turn his head until his eyes met hers.  Oh, her touch felt so good -- he had missed it so much!  He wanted to take a hold of her palm, kiss it, and never let go... but he didn’t move.  Instead he studied his wife, looking absolutely beautiful in her fury.  Sadness welled up within him.  How many more times would he be able to see her glorious anger?  Not too many more times, he was sure....

“Why the _hell_ would you say such a thing?” she raged.

“Because it’s true.”  His heart felt like a lead weight in his chest as he spoke.  “It’s all been arranged.  All my money would have been yours so that you could live in comfort.  Raphael would’ve taken care of you.  Amenadiel, Maze and Sachiel would’ve watched over Beatrice and the baby.”

Her mouth fell open, and she gaped like a fish. _“What?!”_

“Your life would have been perfect,” he said bitterly as he looked away.  “Bloody perfect.”

He heard her get up and then suddenly she was sitting on the bed next to him, her hand on his jaw, forcing him to look at her once again.  “It would _not_ have been ‘bloody perfect,’ you stupid idiot, because _you_ wouldn’t have been there,” she stated firmly.  “What the hell, Lucifer!  How could you even think such a thing?  I mean, come on!  We had an argument; couples fight all the time.  That’s no reason to become suicidal --”

Anger suddenly welled up inside him.  “Stop it!  I know you hate me and want a divorce -- why can’t you let me make amends?!”

“Hate you?  Divorce?!”  She stared at him as if he had grown a second head.  “What the hell are you talking about?!”

“Oh please, Detective, don’t play that game with me.  I’m not bloody stupid!” he snapped angrily.  “Your mother told me everything.  How you hate me because I destroyed your life, and that you never want to see me again.  Right -- well, I’m trying to give that to you!  What more do you want?!  Bloody hell, tell me!”  The anger drained out of him as quickly as it had come, and in a soft voice, barely audible, he said, “Just... tell me and I’ll do it.”  He shut his eyes.  “I’ll do anything to make you happy.”

There was dead silence for so long that Lucifer would have thought she had left the room, had she not still been sitting on the bed.  Curiosity got the better of him; opening his eyes, he saw her aqua eyes huge in a face far too pale, and her mouth gaping open as she just stared at him.  At her shell-shocked expression, he finally managed a soft, “Detective?  Are you all right?”

“When... when did you see my mother?” she asked in a thin, tight voice.

He blinked with surprise.  “The night Beatrice came to the flat -- she convinced me to go to therapy.  After dropping her off at your house, I cleaned myself up and went to see Doctor Linda.  She helped me realize....  Well, after that I came straight to you to explain... but... you didn’t want to see me.”

Chloe continued to stare at him, wearing what Lucifer called her “detective face.”  Her gaze grew far away as she saw something in her mind’s eye, and she whispered, “The neighbor with the lost cat....”

Lucifer didn’t know what that meant, so he ignored it instead and tried to keep the hurt out of his voice.  “I... I’m trying to do as you asked.  I know I’ve made a bloody mess of your life and... I’m sorry.  Please... go.  I’ll give you your divorce, and I’ll never bother you again.” Those words were like a knife to his heart, but he knew they had to be said.  At least he would be able to do one thing right by her.

That seemed to bring her out of her shock, and she gripped his hand hard.  “No, Lucifer.  No.  I’m not leaving you.  There’s been a mistake... miscommunication, among other things.”  An angry light came into her eyes, but then she squeezed them shut and took a deep breath.  When she looked at him again, her eyes were soft and gentle.

“My dear Devil, always trying so hard....  Look.  I should have come to talk to you much sooner than this, so a lot of this is my fault.”

“What?!  This is not your fau--”

“Yes, it is,” Chloe said, pressing her index finger to his lips before pulling it away.  “Look, Lucifer, I’m human.  I make mistakes.  And the truth is that I was afraid....  After the whole Palmetto incident with Dan last year, I’ve always been worried that people around me aren’t... what they seem.  But you are.  You always have been, haven’t you?  And I should have trusted you.  But after you told me about the deal, I was afraid to talk to you about it... afraid you would confirm that I had been betrayed yet again by someone I loved... and I just couldn’t face that.  I’m sorry.”

Lucifer gawked at her.  “But none of this is your fault!” he cried as he took her hand in his.  “None of it.  The fault rests with me, and no one else.  I should have told you --”

“Yes, you should have,” she chided gently, “but Rafe told me everything.”  She leaned forward and caressed his cheek.  “Why didn’t you tell me from the beginning that you made that deal to save our lives -- mine and the baby’s?  And that you said you would deal with the baby, not kill it?”

He froze, unable to move.  Her warm hand against his cheek was making him wish for things he couldn’t have.  “I... I couldn’t,” he said.  “I was afraid as well....  Afraid that you would hate me if you knew what kind of deal I had made.”  Saying the words reminded him of what Penelope had told him, and he closed his eyes against the sight of Chloe’s tender expression.  He had to do what was right.  Reaching up, he pulled her hand away from his cheek.  Giving a harsh laugh as he looked back at the window, he said, “And now you do.  Let me go, Chloe.  I’m worse than Dan, remember?  Find some bloody good sod who will make you happy.”

He heard her sigh, and then she took his hand and pressed it against her cheek.  “Look, I was angry when I compared you to Dan, and I’m sorry for that.”  Taking a deep breath, she said, “I have a very good man.  His name is Lucifer Morningstar, and I love him very much.”

His eyes flew to hers.  Hope, all enduring, welled up from his heart and started to trickle through his bones.    “But... but I destroyed your life --”

Chloe shook her head.  “No, you didn’t.  You made it better.”  She leaned forward, touching her nose to his.  Lucifer’s insides trembled at her proximity.  She loved him?  He couldn’t believe it -- it was just too much to ask for.  Maybe he really was dead...?  “My life is infinitely better with you in it,” she whispered right before she kissed him tenderly.

The feel of her lips against his filled him with a fierce joy.  He was so overwhelmed by his love for her that he couldn’t even think.  With shaking hands he reached up and pulled her close, deepening the kiss.  At last she pulled away and, with a chuckle, rested her forehead against his.

“I love you, Lucifer,” Chloe whispered.

He couldn’t believe it....  He felt a burning at the back of his eyes and a tightness in his throat, but he pushed them both back.  “And I, you,” he whispered back.  “You don’t know how much I....”

“You were willing to sacrifice your life just to make me happy,” she said, her eyes bright with unshed tears.  “I think I know.”

“Come here, love.”  Lucifer pulled her down so that she was laying beside him.  “I’m nothing without you.  This past week has been...hell.”

“And so unnecessary.”  Sighing she said, “I don’t ever want to be separated from you again.  We have to promise to talk to each other, no matter what, even if it’s something horrible.  We can’t keep any secrets from each other.  Whatever we fear... we’re stronger when we face it together.  Okay?”

Swallowing hard, he nodded.  “Understood.”

“We have to keep the lines of communications open, husband.  I never want this to happen again.  Ever.”

“Nor do I, love.”  Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her close and held on for dear life.  “Never again.”

“And if you ever try to get yourself killed again, I will kill you,” she said as she snuggled against him.

“Understood, Mrs. Morningstar,” he chuckled, before tightening his embrace.  Love was too tame a word for what Lucifer felt sweeping through him.  Joy, passion, gratitude -- yes, all of that -- but something more, something so profound that he had no name for it.  All he knew was that he was the luckiest being in the entire universe.  Chloe made him complete... she was his heart, his soul, and all he wanted was to make sweet love to her.  He could think of nothing better to burn away the memory of the absolute hell he had been living in, but as he started caressing her body, the baby kicked under his hands, startling him.  Chloe laughed, took his hand and pressed it against her belly.

“The baby’s happy we’re back together,” she said with a smile in her voice.

“That makes two of us,” Lucifer said, although the thought of the baby was still somewhat rattling.  And then suddenly Chloe was pulling away.  Anxiously, he asked, “What -- what’s wrong, love?”

“I have to talk to my mother,” she said as she stood, leaving Lucifer flabbergasted.

“Now?!  Why?”

Chloe turned to him, her eyes as hard as diamonds.  “Because she lied to you, and she lied to me.  I need to dole out some punishment of my own.”

Lucifer’s eyes lit up with excitement as he propped himself up on his elbows.  “Punishment!  Ooooh, Detective, let me come!  I’ll drive you --”

She chuckled.  “No, my dear Devil.  I have to do this on my own.”

Disappointment coursed through him, and he said sulkily, “But punishment is my jam....”

“No.”

“But...”  He eyed her belly uneasily.  “You shouldn’t be driving.”

“I’ll be fine.  Besides, you almost died yesterday!  You need to take it easy.”  The look she sent him was filled with tenderness.  “How do you feel?

“I’m all right, love,” he said, lifting his chin.

“That’s not what I asked.  How do you _feel?”_

Shifting his gaze away, he sighed.  His Chloe was always so perceptive!  “I feel... a bit achy, and... tired.”

He glanced back at her when she pressed her hand against his cheek; she smiled down at him.  “Then stay in bed and rest, okay?  I want you back at a hundred percent.  When you’re feeling better, you can get dressed and fetch Trixie -- she’s downstairs with Maze and Amenadiel.  We’ll celebrate when I get home.”

“I can get her now --”

 _“Later._  Stay in bed until you’re feeling up to it.”  Her face set into stubborn lines.  “Promise me.”

Lucifer frowned darkly at her, but she merely returned his gaze unflinchingly.  They stared at each other for a very long moment before he sighed heavily.  “Bloody hell, wife, you drive a hard bargain.  Very well -- I give you my word.”

Chloe grinned.  “Good!  And now I have to go.”

Uneasiness coursed through the fallen angel’s insides at the thought of her driving in her condition.  “You’ll be careful...?”

“As careful as a mouse,” she said with a laugh as she breezed out of the room.

  



	19. Confronting Penelope

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A super-huge thank you to my excellent beta, ScooterThyme! You make my work shine!

 

 

“Mom!”

Marching through the front door of the beach house, Chloe yelled again for her mother, until Penelope came rushing over from the kitchen, dressed in an expensive silk blouse and slacks.

“You’re back!  I’m so glad.  I couldn’t believe it when you phoned to tell me you went back to that --”

 _“Mom!”_  Chloe struggled to hold onto her temper.  If she didn’t stay calm, Penelope would just shut her out and stop listening completely.

“What is it, pumpkin?  Are you starting to feel contractions?”  the older woman asked as she wiped her hands on the dish towel she had brought with her.  Her face was lit up with excitement.

“The baby’s not due for another week.”  Chloe sighed, suddenly feeling guilty for the argument that was about to ensue... but it had to be done.  Just the thought that her mother had meddled in her life and caused such misery for both her and Lucifer was enough to send raging anger coursing through her veins.  Struggling to stay calm, the younger woman took a deep breath and decided to be direct.

“Mom, why didn’t you tell me that Lucifer came by to see me?”   _Calm... stay calm._

Shock rippled over Penelope’s face, and for once the older woman was speechless.  Finally she laughed nervously and said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I’m talking about the night when Trixie went to see Lucifer.  He came by that night, didn’t he?  You said it was a neighbor looking for a lost cat, but it was really Lucifer, wasn’t it?”  When her mother didn’t respond, Chloe repeated, “Wasn’t it?”

Penelope gave a trill of laughter.  “Oh honey, you’re making something out of nothing --”

“Dammit, Mom, he came, didn’t he?”  When her mother didn’t answer, she said, “Mom, you know I’m a cop.  I can tell when you’re withholding information.”

“Well, he might have stopped by....” the older woman hedged in a light voice.

“Why didn’t you tell me he had come by?” Chloe barked.   _“Why?!”_

“Chloe -- pumpkin -- Lucifer’s no good for you,” she finally said.  “He’s been the cause of all your problems.  Sleeping around, causing the car accident that nearly killed you --”

“How many times do I have to tell you, he did _not_ cause the accident!” the younger woman yelled furiously.  Penelope merely waved her protests off.

“He left Trixie with a bartender, of all people, for over a week.  Who would do such a thing?  It’s so obvious that he doesn’t care for her... or you.  For heaven’s sake, Chloe, he left you alone for two months after impregnating you!  Who in his right mind does that?”

“Mom --”

“Dan would have been so much better for you, pumpkin.  He really cared --”

Chloe let out a strangled scream.  Matricide was beginning to look pretty good to her.  “Mom, I told you that Dan let me think I was crazy while he covered up shooting Malcolm Graham in the whole Palmetto incident --”

“But he apologized for that, honey!  When are you going to forgive him?”

“Forgive him?!  Why should I forgive someone who let me think I was insane?!”

“Oh Chloe, I’m sure that wasn’t his intent.  He was trying to protect you!”

“Mom, you are not listening to me,” she ground out.  “How many times do I have to tell you that Dan was not a good guy?”

Penelope crossed her arms in front of her.  “I don’t believe that, honey.  I spoke with him after the accident, when you were in a coma.  He really cares for you --”

“Yeah, well, now he’s in jail so it doesn’t matter anymore,” Chloe snapped.  “I’m with Lucifer now.”

Her mother sighed heavily.  “That’s something I’ll never understand.”

“Look, Lucifer’s a good man.  He’s always been there for me, and he tries really hard.  For you to tell him I hate him and want to divorce him -- for god’s sake, Mom, what were you thinking?!”

“You can’t blame me for thinking of you,” Penelope said defensively.

“Thinking of me?  Of _me?!”_  Chloe wanted to scream.  “How the hell were you thinking of me?  You told me to wait for him to come to me -- I did, and he did!  And you didn’t even have the good grace to tell me!”

“Look, honey, it’s just that you’ve always had such bad luck with men,” the older woman said condescendingly.  “I mean, look at Lucifer!  He’s no good for you!  Sure, he’s good looking and has money, but he’s a womanizer!  I just wanted to protect you, honey.”

“Protect?!” the younger woman sputtered.  “Protect!”

“Yes, protect,” Penelope said with patience in her voice.  Chloe couldn’t stand the patronizing tone.  “With Lucifer out of your life, you can find a nice man -- a good man.  Someone who isn’t going to abandon you at the first hint of trouble.”

“Lucifer wouldn’t --”

“He did!”  Penelope cut her off ruthlessly.  “He left you for two months, high and dry, probably for another woman!  You were pregnant and he still left you!”

“He was kidnapped!”

“So he says!  Who knows?!  Men like that lie to get what they want --”

“Lucifer does _not_ lie!”

Arguing with her mother was like arguing with a block wall.  Once Penelope got an idea in her head, it was almost impossible to dislodge it.  Chloe felt like throwing something.  The whole argument was giving her indigestion.  She tried her best to calm herself down.

“Mom,” she said with exaggerated patience through gritted teeth, “for the last time, my husband is Lucifer.  We are not getting divorced.  I love him, and if you want anything to do with your grandchildren, you will respect that.  You don’t have to like him, but you will stop undermining him every chance you get.”

“But pumpkin --”

“But nothing,” Chloe said in a harsh voice.  “I love him.  Period.  We may have our differences and sometimes we may argue, but when it comes right down to it, we love each other.”  In a softer tone she added, “Please, Mom.  Please accept my decision.”

Penelope frowned.  “Well, I can’t say I like this, Chloe.”

“You don’t have to like it.  Just... accept it.”

The older woman sighed.  “Well, I guess I’ll have to, if I want to see my grandchildren.  I do wish you would give Dan another chance, once he’s out of jail.  He really does love you, honey.”

Chloe threw up her hands in complete frustration.  “I give up.  Goodbye, Mom.  I’ll see you later.”  Walking out of the house, she shook her head.  She just couldn’t believe how stubborn her mother was!  It was times like these that she really missed her dad.  She was sure that her father would have liked Lucifer.  John Decker probably would have also found him a little annoying, but... they would have liked each other.

As she got into the car, she was hit by a cramp.  It caught her by surprise.  Had she eaten something bad?  Perhaps....  Or maybe it was all the stress of arguing with her mother on top of Lucifer nearly getting killed.  It couldn’t be the baby -- she still had a week before the due date, and Trixie had been late when she had her so....  Shrugging it off, she started the engine and started on her way home.

About halfway to the penthouse, she realized they were not cramps.  They were contractions.

“Oh crap,” she muttered as she pulled over to the side of the road and grabbed her phone.  Dialing quickly, she called Lucifer.

“Hello, love!” his familiar voice came over the phone.

“Lucifer --”  Her voice came out in a gasp as she was hit by another contraction.

“What’s wrong?  Are you all right?” she heard Lucifer’s panicked voice say.  “What happened?”

“The... the baby is coming.”

She heard him chuckle.  “Well, yes, I know.  In a week, correct?  We still have time --”

“No, now.  The baby’s coming now.”

“What?!”  A deafening silence, then, _“Now?!”_

It was amazing she could laugh at a time like this.  “Yes, Lucifer, now.  Call Rafe.  And I think I need to get picked up...  I don’t think I can dr-- oh!”  She was hit by another contraction.  “You better hurry.”

“Where are you?”

She rattled off the nearest cross streets.  “And... oh my god, I think my water broke.”

“Your water...?  Bloody hell, what does breaking a water bottle have to do with anything right now?!”

“No, husband,” she managed to pant.  “It means the baby is getting ready to make its entrance into the world... very soon.”

 _“What?!_  Bloody hell!  Okay, love, sit tight.  You’ll be home in five minutes, I promise you!”

Oh dear god, she really hoped so....

 

 

________________________________________

 

 

“Bloody hell!” yelled Lucifer as he got off his phone and went into full-panic mode.  Chloe wasn’t  supposed to have the baby yet -- it was still too early!  What to do, what to do -- bloody hell, what was he supposed to do?!

Okay, first things first -- get calm.  He took a deep breath, hopped out of bed, then started running around like a chicken with its head cut off.  He ran for the elevator before realizing that all he had on were his boxer shorts.  Clothes.  He needed clothes.  He dashed to his closet and yanked on anything he could lay his hands on, then ran back into the bedroom -- bloody hell, nothing was ready for Chloe to have the baby!  Darting to the bar, he poured himself a shot with a hand that shook far too much.  Abandoning the drink without drinking it, he ran back to the elevator.  Rafe -- he needed to call Rafe.  And Amenadiel had to slow down time so that they could get Chloe home before the baby came.  But what if the baby wasn’t affected by the time stoppage?  What then?!

No, no, no.  That wouldn’t happen.  Bloody hell, he needed to get a hold of himself!  He dashed back to the bar to down the shot of Scotch.  Surely that would help...?  A minute passed as his heart beat like a mad thing in his chest, trying to drum its way out of his body.  Dizziness assailed him, and he thought he was going to pass out... but he swiftly rejected that course of action.  He had to calm down.  Grabbing a hold of the bar counter, he took a deep breath... two... then straightened.

Amenadiel.  He needed Amenadiel.

He took off running for the elevator, then changed his mind.  Too slow.  He scrambled down the emergency stairwell to the level below, then rushed over to his brother’s apartment.

Like a madman he pounded on the door.  After what felt like an eternity, Amenadiel finally opened the door.  His clothes were all askew and his expression was fierce.

For a moment, Lucifer could only stare in surprise.  Were his brother and Maze having sex while Beatrice stayed with them?!  Even more panic flooded his insides, this time having nothing to do with the baby.  Chloe would kill them all, one by one, in the most painful way possible....

“Bloody hell -- please don’t tell me you’re putting on a sex show for the little one --”

“Huh?”  Amenadiel looked down at himself, then at his brother as realization dawned.  “Oh no, this is not -- I’ve been having trouble with Maze.”

“I can see that.”

“No, no -- Maze was trying to help Trixie with her common core math problems.  She got frustrated and started ripping up the book, so I had to restrain her --”

“Oh.  Well.”  Reality set in once again for Lucifer, as did the panic.  “Chloe’s having the baby.”

The angel gaped at him.  The Devil wanted to slap him to get him moving.

“Bloody hell, bro, come on!  Snap out of it!” he yelled at him.  “She’s on the road and I need your bloody help.  Call Rafe -- get him over here now! -- then slow down time so that we can get her here before the baby’s born!”

“Lucifer!”  Trixie ran full tilt into him, almost knocking him down in her enthusiasm.

For a moment, the panic of the baby receded as Lucifer picked the little girl up and swung her around before pulling her into a big hug.  He had missed her so much!  She wrapped her arms around his neck and broke out into giant sobs.

Bloody hell -- it looked like Chloe was going to have to wait just one more minute, for there was no way he could leave Beatrice in such a state.  He wasn’t sure why she was crying, but he held her tightly and awkwardly rubbed her back in what he hoped was a soothing manner.  He had idea what to do when it came to comfort.  Her distress caused the back of his eyes to burn terribly, and he squeezed his eyes shut to stop the sensation.  Bloody allergies....

“I missed you!” she cried.  Well, that was what he thought she said.  He couldn’t understand her, since she had pressed her face hard against his suit jacket and all he could understand were loud mumbles.  The fastidious part of his brain worried about the damage to his suit, while the rest of his brain told that part to shut up.

“Now, now,” he said softly.  “What’s this, child?  Tears?”

He felt her head nod against his shoulder.  “I missed you,” she said more clearly.

Lucifer dug into his trouser pocket and pulled out a silk handkerchief.  “Here, child.  Wipe your tears with this.”

Sniffling but unwilling to let go completely of the fallen angel, Trixie kept one arm around his neck while the other took the white handkerchief.  She mopped her eyes and blew her nose, but didn’t stop crying.

“I thought I’d never see you again,” she whispered.  “And then when we finally got to come home, you were lying in bed and wouldn’t wake up!”

“Ah.  Yes.  That.  Well, I got into a fight with one of my brothers,” Lucifer said.  “But as you can see,  I’m here now.”

“I’m so glad!”  She hugged him again, nearly strangling him with her tight embrace.

“As am I.”  Putting Trixie down on the ground, he said, “Now, your mother has called and is having the baby.  Amenadiel and I are going to pick her up right now.  Can you be good and stay with Maze for a little while longer?”

“Mommy’s having the baby?”  The little girl’s face lit up like the sun, and she wiped her tears away with the back of her hand.  “Where is she?”

“She’s on the road.  We’ll be back before you know it.  Can you stay with Maze?”

Trixie grinned and hugged Lucifer around the waist.  “I can.  Go get Mommy, okay?  I want to see the baby!”  With a glint in her eye, she added, “I can’t wait -- I have plans!”

That sounded ominous -- and wonderfully devious, as well.  Lucifer smiled, then glanced back up at Amenadiel.  “Let’s go.”

“Amenadiel!”  Maze yelled from beyond the door.  “What the hell --”

“Maze, Chloe’s having the baby!” the angel yelled back as he yanked off his shirt and tossed it aside.  “I have to go!”

The demon suddenly appeared, the remnants of a textbook in her hand.  “And things were just getting interesting, too....  It figures Decker would choose _now_ of all times to have her kid.”

“Sorry, Maze, but I have to go,” the angel told his girlfriend.  The demon bared her teeth at him, bit his shoulder so hard that it bled, then licked the blood off her boyfriend’s skin.  Lucifer rolled his eyes as the couple exchanged violently passionate gazes before sharing a devouring kiss.

“Bloody hell,” the Devil complained, exasperated, while Trixie giggled.   _“Must_ you do this now?”

After a long minute Amenadiel came up for air, his expression completely dazed.  “Huh?”

“Can we go _now?”_ Lucifer asked bitingly with impatience.

“What?  Oh.  Yeah.  Sure.  Sorry, Luci.”

“Right.  Let’s go to the flat -- we can fly from there,” Lucifer said as his brother sent up a prayer for Raphael, then pushed past him into the hall.  The Devil turned to the little girl.  “Stay with Maze, all right?”

“Come on, kid, let’s go destroy more of your textbooks,” the demon said with a feral smile as she led the girl back inside the apartment.

“Take care of Mommy!” Trixie called to him.  “Call us when you get home!”

As soon as the door closed, the two brothers ran up the stairwell to the penthouse.  Once they got there, Lucifer whipped off his jacket and dress shirt and stretched out his large, white wings.  He hoped Chloe was faring well, despite the minor delays.  Amenadiel, already shirtless, unfurled his wings as well, and sent up a prayer.  As time slowed down, the pair launched themselves from the balcony into the sky.

 


	20. Birth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A very big thank you to my excellent beta, ScooterThyme! You make my work shine -- thank you!

 

 

Lucifer never felt such panic in his entire life, which was saying something, considering that he had been alive for eons.

Although he had promised Chloe he would stay with her during the birthing process, that plan quickly changed.  Trixie’s horrified expression when her mother started screaming in pain was enough for him to usher the little girl into the living room and sit with her there.  A part of him was thankful for the reprieve.  Frankly, the thought of childbirth terrified him, and the wails his wife was emitting were enough to scar him for all eternity.

“Will Mommy be okay?” Trixie asked nervously.  “I didn’t know she would hurt so much --”

“Nor did I, child,” Lucifer said.  “But Rafe is with her -- if anyone can pull her through this, he can.”   _ I hope. _

Fear ran rampant inside of him.  He had finally gotten his wife back, after one of the most horrific weeks he’d ever had.  The thought that the birth might harm her scared him to death.  He loved her so much -- he couldn’t even think of a world without her.

“I know she wanted us in there, but she’s screaming a lot,” the little girl continued.  “Why does having a baby hurt so much?”

“Ah...yes.  Well... I... I’m not really sure, child,” he said anxiously.  “I’m sure Rafe would be able to answer all your questions on that score.”

Trixie opened her mouth to ask another question, when the sound of flapping wings from the balcony interrupted them.  Lucifer turned to see a number of angels there: Warriors Elite all, save one -- Jegudiel.  The pit of his stomach dropped the floor; the fallen angel hollered for Amenadiel in the master bedroom, who was attending the birth with Maze.

“What is it, Luci -- oh.” Amenadiel said as he came into the living room and spotted the newcomers on the balcony.  

“Take the child, will you please?  Make sure she stays... safe,” Lucifer said as he pushed Trixie toward his brother.  

“Sure thing.  Come on, Trixie,” Amenadiel said, glowering at the angels as he took the little girl’s hand and led her away to her bedroom.  After Lucifer heard the click of the door closing, he turned to the newcomers who had crowded into the living room.

“And what brings you here, Jegudiel?” he asked, cocking his head and lifting his chin.  “I won’t tolerate any violence in my home right now.  My wife is giving birth.”

“We know,” the archangel said.  “We are here to determine what it is.  If it is what we fear, then we will kill it.  We must protect the Earth.”

“Bloody hell, cut from the same cloth as Orphiel, I see,” the Devil muttered as he rolled his eyes.  “How many times must I tell you that it won’t be a Nephilim?”

“You don’t know that for sure,” his brother said, as another of Chloe’s cries punctuated the air.

“Goddamn you for doing this to me, Lucifer Morningstar!”

Lucifer felt heat creep into his face at his wife’s scream of rage, but he kept his eye on his archangel brother.  Jegudiel snickered at Chloe’s cry.

“Your wife sounds very angry.”

“She’s fine,” he replied tightly.  Bloody prick....

“Maybe she’s angry because she’s birthing a monster.”

“Bloody hell, shut your sodding mouth!” the fallen angel snapped.  “I am sick and tired of listening to you sodding pricks making accusations when you know  _ nothing!” _  His eyes started to glow red as he approached his brother with rage.  “I almost lost my wife because of Orphiel -- I refuse to lose my child to you!”

Jegudiel shrugged.  “You won’t have a choice if it’s a Nephilim.”

Lucifer rolled his eyes and flung up his hands with a sharp, angry movement.  “Bloody hell, there’s no talking to you, is there?  If you can’t shut up and behave your sodding self, then leave.”

The archangel shrugged.  “We can be civil... and patient.”  Motioning to his soldiers, he took a seat in Lucifer’s armchair while the rest of the angels stationed themselves at various locations throughout the flat.  Jegudiel’s haughty attitude infuriated the Devil, and he took a step toward his brother with the intent of smashing his fist in his face, but halted at Chloe’s next yell.

“Lucifer!  Goddamn you,  _ get in here!” _

“We’ll pick this up later,” he said, holding his index finger up at his brother, before dashing into the master bedroom.  He saw instantly that Raphael was still waiting for the baby to come, while Maze leaned against a wall, with hardly a care in the world.

“Come on, Chloe, now push,” the healer encouraged.

Lucifer took a seat next to his wife on the bed and grabbed her hand as she pushed.  The crushing, vice-like feel of her fingers against his was enough to have him yelping in pain, but he bit his lip and withstood it.  His Chloe needed him, and he desperately wanted to do all he could for her -- even if it was only to let her break every bone in his hand.

“Isn’t there anything you can do about the pain?” he asked his brother over Chloe’s agonized cries.

Raphael shook his head.  “No, but it will be over soon.  I see the head....”

 

 

________________________________________

 

 

Forty-five minutes later, Raphael rubbed the newborn baby with a towel and was rewarded by a very loud howl.  Lucifer craned his head over the sheet draped over his wife’s legs, trying to see the baby.  Anxiety ate at his insides.  If the baby was a Nephilim, he’d have to do something quickly to keep the warriors in the other room from killing it -- but it wouldn’t be.  He knew in his heart of hearts that it wouldn’t be.

“Well?” he asked anxiously as he rubbed his wife’s hand in both of his.  “What is it?”

“Just a minute, I have to cut the umbilical cord,” Raphael said.  Lucifer wanted to scream with impatience.  

“Bloody hell, man, tell us!  Boy or girl?!” 

After a few agonizing minutes, Raphael stood and brought the new bundle of joy, swathed in a blanket, to its proud parents.  “Congratulations, you have a baby boy.”

“A boy?” Chloe asked, her tired face breaking out into a beatific smile.

“A boy.  A winged boy,” the healer said with a grin.  “You can hold him, but be sure to support his neck and head.”

Lucifer laughed joyously and hugged his wife hard.  “I knew it!” he crowed triumphantly.  “I knew he wouldn’t be a Nephilim!”

Before Raphael or Chloe could even think of doing anything, Lucifer snatched the baby, cradling it in his arms, and ran into the living room.  Presenting the baby to his archangel brother, the Devil boasted, “Not a Nephilim.  He has wings!”

Jegudiel looked doubtful.  “We need to see proof.”

“Of course,” Lucifer said proudly, leading them back to Chloe, Raphael and Maze.  Handing the little bundle of floppy baby to his brother, he let Raphael unwrap the little infant to show off the wings.  The little appendages were tiny, no longer than a forefinger, with damp, white, hairlike growth over the pink skin of the wings.  It was a great contrast to the head of black hair crowning the baby’s head.

The archangel frowned, then nodded.  “Fine, we will not kill the baby....  But you do know what this means, do you not, brother?”

A sinking feeling in the pit of Lucifer’s stomach hit him, dampening his joy.  Surely... there wouldn’t be more problems?

“Bloody hell, what now?” the Devil asked with annoyance and not a little trepidation.

“It’s not a Nephilim and it’s not fully human -- we do not know what it is,” Jegudiel said.  “It may yet be evil and destroy the world.”

“Or it may not be,” Chloe piped up from the bed, her eyes narrowed and angry.

“We do not know what it is, so we will be watching,” the archangel said.  “If it becomes any kind of threat to the Earth, we  _ will _ kill it.”

With that, the archangel left the room as Lucifer sputtered furiously.  The fallen angel followed his brother out, only to see him and all of his warriors take off from the balcony and vanish into the night.  

“Bloody prick,” he muttered hotly, before dashing to Trixie’s room and whipping open the door, where Amenadiel was playing Molly McDowell with the little girl.  “Come, come see the baby!” he crowed.  “It’s a boy!”

The three of them ran back to the master bedroom to see Chloe cuddling the little baby, once again swaddled in the receiving blanket.

“Does he have wings, Mommy?  Does he?” Trixie asked, her voice pitched high with excitement.

“Apparently,” she answered with a smile.  

“Yes!” Trixie cried, dancing around the room.  “I’m going to teach the baby how to fly and then tie a string to him like a balloon and go for walks with him --”

“Trixie, the baby is not a dog!” Chloe admonished, but the little girl wasn’t listening.

“And when he’s big enough I’m going to ride him like a pony when we go flying!”

Her mother slapped her palm on her forehead while Lucifer let out a gusty laugh.

“Awww,” Amenadiel said as he approached and cooed at the baby.  “He’s really cute!”

“Are you kidding me?” Maze spat.  “The kid is butt ugly!  I can’t wait to teach it how to kill things.”

Lucifer chuckled as Chloe looked shocked.  “You... you like the baby?” she asked.

“Anything that causes that amount of pain and is this spectacularly ugly?  What’s not to like?” the demon asked before grabbing her boyfriend and dragging him to the elevator.  “Come on, sexy beast!  All this yelling and screaming has made me hot.”

“But... Maze, wouldn’t you like a baby, too?” Amenadiel asked as she threw him into the elevator, where he slammed into the back wall of the car.

“Are you kidding me?!  Don’t be disgusting and kiss me!” she snarled as the doors closed.

They all laughed at the couple before Raphael wiped his hands on a nearby towel.  “We’re not done yet.  Chloe, you still have to deliver the afterbirth.  Lucifer, Trixie, why don’t you wait in the living room?  It won’t be long.  I’m going to call Sachiel and tell her about the baby -- she’d want to know....”

 

 

________________________________________

 

 

That night after Trixie went to bed, Lucifer sat next to his wife, both of them propped up on pillows in bed.  He just couldn’t believe that twenty-four hours earlier, he had planned on dying.  Now he was back with his wife and stepdaughter, and his son slept peacefully in his arms.  What a difference a day made!  Leaning over, the Devil kissed Chloe on the cheek.

“You did a fine job, wife,” he said softly with a smile.

She smiled gently at her husband.  “You seem to be coping okay with the baby.”

Lucifer gave a nervous grin.  “I’m actually screaming in terror on the inside, love,” he said, and was not joking.  Holding the little helpless life in his hands scared him to death.   What if he dropped the little creature on its head?  What if he accidentally crushed it in his hands?  What if he turned out as awful as his father and tortured the poor child?

He glanced over to see his wife looking at him with shining eyes.  “You’ll be fine, Lucifer.  Don’t worry.  You’re going to be a fantastic dad.”

“Hmph,” was all he said to that before anxiously returning his gaze to the little baby in his arms.

“So what shall we name him?” Chloe asked.  “I know you haven’t thought of any names, but....”

“Well, actually....”  Lucifer shifted a bit and glanced back down at his wife, a shy smile playing about his lips.  “I think I might have a name that we can both appreciate.”

“Really?“ Chloe asked, her eyebrows raised.  A loving smile lit her face.  “Do tell.”

“Right.  I think he should be named... Emrys.  Emrys John Morningstar.”

His wife gaped at him.  “I thought you didn’t want Dad names?”

“Well, no, but....”  Embarrassment shot through him, tinting his cheeks pink.  “I know how important it is to you that he be named after your father... and I want to give you what you want.  It’s... important to me.”

Tears glimmered in Chloe’s eyes.  “You wonderful man,” she breathed as she pulled him down so that she could kiss his cheek.  “You sweet, thoughtful man....  Dad would be pleased.”  Giving him a smile that lit up the room, she asked, “And Emrys?  What does that mean?”

“It’s a Welsh name,” Lucifer said.  “It means immortal.  It seemed to fit....”

He was rewarded with another kiss from his wife, this time a passionate one.  “Yes, my dear Devil, it does indeed fit.  Especially since little Emrys has wings.”  He felt her sigh against him as she cuddled close.  “We’re going to have to do something about that.  He can’t be showing the world he has them.”

“I know, love.  We’ll deal with it when he’s a little older.  You rest now....”

 

 

________________________________________

 

 

Long after Chloe slept, Lucifer sat up and stared at the sleeping little bundle of joy in his arms.  He wasn’t sure how he felt.  Happy?  Terrified?  Yes, to both of those.  He didn’t like children, and yet when he looked down at his own son, pride welled in his chest, so great that it threatened to drown him.  He felt a hundred feet tall; it was the oddest thing.  And underneath all of the emotions assailing Lucifer was a staggering love for his son -- a warmth radiating out of his chest and flooding every pore of his body.  At least... he thought it was love?  It could very well be indigestion.

“Well, little Emrys, we have to set up some rules,” he whispered to the sleeping baby.  “As long as you don’t spit up on me, or do your bloody disgusting business on me, we will get along just fine.  I’ll take good care of you, I promise....  I’ll teach you how to fly, and you’ll have free will.  We’ll see what powers you have -- and even if you don’t have any, I’ll still love you.”  With a smile, Lucifer leaned back against the pillows and closed his eyes, feeling the warmth of his baby in the crook of his arm and his wife snuggled against his side.

And that was the most wondrous thing -- his wife was back in his arms, loving him.  How thankful he was that Chloe didn’t hate him, didn’t want a divorce, and didn’t think he had destroyed her life!  What a miracle that was.  He was more touched than she could ever know.  Beatrice was back home as well, where she belonged -- what a blessing the little one was!  Of course, he’d never admit it to anyone, but he was so thankful for her presence in his life.  And now, with the baby, his life felt complete -- at least for the moment.  He smiled and sent up a little thank you to Doctor Linda.

Perhaps the Devil deserved a little happiness, after all....

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so very much for keeping up for so long with this Lucifer and Chloe! I can't tell you how much I appreciate your continued support! It means a lot to me that you would keep reading even after Season 2 started, especially with this series diverging so far from canon. Thank you! You are all amazing and awesome readers, gifting me with your continued reading and comments -- THANK YOU!!!
> 
> Just to let you know, I got very distracted by the holiday season as well as by my Meta Lucifer series, so I have not yet started on Part 11. I will (I have ideas!) but I don't like to post until everything's written -- that way you aren't waiting weeks for the next update. Soooo... this series is going on hiatus for a few weeks while I pound on my keyboard... but I will be back! I do hope I will see you all again when this AU returns to AO3! Until then, happy reading!! Thank you all, you are all the best!
> 
> And to you all -- may you all have the happiest of New Years!!! Best wishes for 2017! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!


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